From Concept to Convention Floor: How Keepital Built a Startup Pavilion at WOCEE 2026

 When the World of Consumer Electronics Expo opened its doors at the SMX Convention Center Manila last August 5, Keepital Philippines wasn't just attending. It had built something of its own.

At the World of Consumer Electronics Expo (WOCEE) 2026, Keepital once again demonstrated its commitment to empowering SMEs and innovators by organizing a vibrant Start‑Up Pavilion. This initiative brought together six promising start‑ups and a powerhouse IP institution, offering them a platform to showcase their ideas, engage with industry leaders, and connect with potential partners.

By curating this collaborative space, Keepital amplified the visibility of emerging ventures and provided them with the credibility needed to stand out in a competitive marketplace. The presence of the Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) further underscored the importance of intellectual property in fostering innovation, as the office engaged directly with the industry to highlight its role in supporting start‑ups and entrepreneurs.

The result was the Keepital Startup Pavilion: a curated cluster of booths within the WOCEE floor, anchored by a dedicated stage programme on Day 2, August 6, designed to give each participant not just a booth but a genuine launchpad.

The Exhibitors

Keepital opened applications to startups across the consumer technology ecosystem and selected seven participants for the pavilion:

Ateneo Intellectual Property Office (AIPO) anchored the pavilion as the institutional partner, bringing IP commercialization expertise and presenting the opening panel discussion.

a11y media, formerly known as Wika and the only Philippine startup selected from 800+ applicants for the Real Madrid Next Accelerator, brought its accessible media platform to WOCEE, serving the Filipino Deaf and hard of hearing community through sign language video content and captions.

KLARO brought AI-powered sales and inventory management designed for Philippine cooperatives and agri-businesses still running on handwritten logbooks, one of the most grounded applications of AI to reach the expo floor.

Domantay Consulting (DC Digital), founded in 2018, represented the communications and brand side of the ecosystem. A reminder that every technology company eventually needs to be heard, not just built.

Vaura entered as an AI-powered content engine, offering businesses a smarter, faster pipeline for producing brand-consistent content at scale.

BetterClinic demonstrated its AI ambient scribe that listens during medical consultations and auto-generates clinical notes, prescriptions, and PhilHealth claims, built specifically for the Philippine healthcare context and compliant with the Data Privacy Act.

SOFI AI, a member of the NVIDIA Inception Program and a Google for Startups alumnus, showcased its customer engagement automation platform that is a 24/7 chat, multilingual, and deployable across Facebook, Instagram, Shopify, and more.

Throughout the event, Keepital’s team actively engaged with visitors, facilitating conversations that bridged start‑ups with investors, collaborators, and customers. The pavilion was not only a showcase of innovation but also a hub of meaningful exchange where ideas were shared, partnerships were formed, and opportunities for growth were unlocked.

Beyond supporting the exhibitors, Keepital also contributed to the success of WOCEE itself, ensuring that the Start‑Up Pavilion added value to the overall program. This dual role, both as exhibitor and organizer, reflected Keepital’s mission to strengthen ecosystems, empower SMEs, and create platforms where businesses can thrive.

WOCEE 2026 was more than just an exhibition; it was a celebration of ingenuity, collaboration, and forward‑thinking. By championing start‑ups and partnering with institutions like AIPO, Keepital reaffirmed its position as a trusted ally in driving innovation across Southeast Asia. The success of the pavilion highlights Keepital’s dedication to building bridges between emerging businesses and the wider industry, paving the way for sustainable growth and global visibility.

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About KEEP Pte Ltd.

Keepital was established in 2013 and has now grown into Southeast Asia’s Leading Industrial B2B marketplace that facilitates connections between suppliers and buyers worldwide through our online platform. They stand out with their highly competitive pricing and offer a comprehensive range of services beyond just product listings. Their advertising options are designed for affordability and simplicity, featuring a one-time payment and low renewal fees for product and service suppliers on our online portal.

Cebu Gains Ground as a BPO and Digital Services Hiring Hub Beyond Metro Manila

Cebu's growing BPO, customer service and digital services market is creating fresh opportunities for jobseekers as hiring activity expands outside the Philippine capital

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu is strengthening its position as one of the Philippines' most important employment centers outside Metro Manila, as business process outsourcing, customer service and digital services hiring continue to create opportunities across the province.

For years, Metro Manila has dominated large-scale corporate and BPO recruitment in the Philippines. But the country's hiring landscape is becoming increasingly distributed, with Cebu emerging as one of the most visible beneficiaries of that shift.

The trend is reflected not only in continued activity across Cebu's IT-BPM sector, but also in the volume and variety of job opportunities now being marketed to candidates in the region.

According to current platform data from MyGlit, a Philippines-focused jobs and recruitment technology platform, 950+ active jobs are associated with Cebu and Central Visayas, compared with 5,210 in Manila. The platform currently lists more than 12000 jobs nationwide.

While Metro Manila remains significantly larger in absolute job volume, Cebu's growing hiring activity points to a broader shift: Filipino jobseekers increasingly have access to substantial career opportunities without necessarily relocating to the capital.

Cebu's hiring market is becoming broader

Customer service remains a major source of employment, but Cebu's job market is no longer limited to one type of call-center role.

Recent Cebu opportunities listed on MyGlit include customer service, financial accounts, healthcare, travel, retail, technical support, sales, back-office and non-voice roles. Some positions are open to fresh graduates and career shifters, while others require previous BPO experience or specialist skills.

Compensation also varies depending on experience, role type and specialization. Current Cebu listings on MyGlit include customer service opportunities in the ₱15,000 to ₱30,000 monthly range, while some multi-location BPO campaigns advertise packages of up to ₱45,000 for qualified applicants.

This diversification matters for Cebu jobseekers because it creates more possible career paths within the same employment ecosystem.

Candidate activity shows strong interest in Cebu opportunities

The demand is not only coming from employers. Candidate activity also suggests strong interest in Cebu-based opportunities.

One Cebu Customer Service Associate vacancy on MyGlit recently recorded more than 2,500 views and 126 applications, showing the level of attention that individual Cebu job opportunities can generate online.

Other Cebu vacancies are also generating hundreds of views, although application levels vary depending on the role, qualifications, compensation, work setup and hiring requirements.

This creates a new challenge for recruitment platforms and employers. As the number of available opportunities increases, simply generating more applications may not be enough. Candidates also need to be connected to vacancies that better match their skills, experience and preferences.

Technology is changing how Cebu candidates can be matched to jobs

Traditional online recruitment has often followed a one-job, one-application model: a candidate finds a vacancy, applies, and either progresses or gets rejected.

Newer recruitment technology is beginning to challenge that model.

MyGlit has been developing AI-assisted candidate matching and rerouting technology that can help evaluate whether a candidate who is not an ideal match for one vacancy may be more suitable for another available opportunity.

That approach can be particularly relevant in a large and varied hiring market such as Cebu, where employers may recruit for multiple accounts requiring different combinations of communication skills, work experience, education, location preference and industry knowledge.

Rather than treating an unsuccessful application as the end of the candidate journey, recruitment platforms can help jobseekers discover another opening for which they may be better suited.

Cebu is becoming increasingly important to the Philippine hiring map

The growth of employment outside Metro Manila is part of a larger evolution in the Philippine outsourcing and digital services market.

Cebu already has an established technology and BPO ecosystem, a strong pool of English-speaking talent and a long history of serving international businesses. What is changing is the scale and diversity of opportunities available outside the capital.

For candidates, this can mean more opportunities to build careers closer to home. For employers, it means access to another deep Philippine talent market. For recruitment platforms, it increases the importance of making regional opportunities easier to discover, compare and match.

"The Philippine employment market is becoming much more distributed, and Cebu is one of the places where we can clearly see that change," said Akhil Ahluwalia, Founder of MyGlit. "For a long time, candidates naturally associated the largest volume of BPO opportunities with Metro Manila. Cebu is increasingly developing its own depth of opportunities. The next challenge is not simply posting more jobs, but using technology to help candidates identify which of those opportunities actually fits them best."

From more jobs to better matches

Cebu's evolution highlights a broader change taking place in online recruitment.

The next generation of job platforms may be judged not only by how many vacancies they publish, but also by how effectively they connect candidates with relevant opportunities.

For a jobseeker searching for BPO jobs in Cebu, call center jobs in Cebu, customer service jobs in Cebu, IT support jobs in Cebu or other Cebu job vacancies, the ability to discover multiple suitable opportunities from a single profile could become increasingly valuable.

As hiring continues to expand beyond Metro Manila, Cebu appears well positioned to remain one of the most important employment markets in the Philippines.

And as the number of available jobs grows, technology may increasingly determine how efficiently Cebu's candidates find the right ones.

About Gratitude Jobs Ahead Hr inc

MyGlit is a jobs and recruitment technology platform by Gratitude Inc operating in the Philippines. The platform allows jobseekers to discover and apply for employment opportunities while providing recruiters and employers with tools for candidate management, screening, communication and AI-assisted matching.

MyGlit currently lists more than 12,000 jobs across the Philippines, including more than 950 active opportunities associated with Cebu and Central Visayas.

Explore jobs on MyGlit Philippines: https://www.myglit.com

Carziqo Launches ER-SX in Austin as Company Moves Toward Seven-Day Autonomous Fleet Operations

The autonomous mobility company is replacing its traditional Sunday-wide maintenance pause with vehicle-specific service schedules designed to keep ride-hailing and delivery fleets available throughout the week.

AUSTIN, Texas — Carziqo is expanding its autonomous mobility operations in Austin with the introduction of its ER-SX autonomous ride-hailing series, as the company prepares for a broader operational shift toward 24/7 fleet availability from Monday through Sunday.

The deployment represents more than the arrival of another vehicle series in Carziqo’s growing autonomous mobility network. It also coincides with a significant change in how the company intends to manage vehicle maintenance, fleet availability and day-to-day operations.

Carziqo has traditionally used Sunday as a centralized fleet maintenance day, temporarily removing vehicles from normal operations so technical and operations teams could conduct inspections, servicing and other routine work.

Under the new model, that system is being replaced by a more flexible approach in which individual vehicles will be assigned maintenance windows according to their actual operating condition rather than being taken offline as part of a fleet-wide weekly shutdown.

The ER-SX series in Austin is among the vehicle programs being introduced under the company’s “24/7 Operations, Monday to Sunday” framework.

From Weekly Shutdowns to Vehicle-Specific Maintenance

According to Carziqo, autonomous ride-hailing and delivery vehicles will remain available for deployment on Sundays instead of being automatically withdrawn from service.

Each vehicle will instead receive an individual maintenance schedule based on factors including mileage, operating history, technical condition, service requirements and fleet deployment plans.

The company said its fleet management platform will coordinate when vehicles should be directed to designated service locations for inspections, cleaning, preventive maintenance, software diagnostics and other routine servicing.

The objective is to move maintenance from a fixed calendar-based system toward a more dynamic operational model.

Rather than treating every vehicle as though it requires maintenance at the same time, the new system is designed to determine when each unit actually requires attention while allowing other available vehicles to remain in service.

For autonomous fleets, where vehicle utilization, software status, battery condition and accumulated mileage can vary considerably from one unit to another, such an approach could allow maintenance resources to be allocated more precisely.

ER-SX Begins Operations in Austin

Austin has become one of the markets where Carziqo is continuing to develop its autonomous ride-hailing operations.

The introduction of the ER-SX adds another vehicle platform to the company’s mobility network, with the series designed for continuous urban service and integration with Carziqo’s centralized fleet management infrastructure.

Instead of functioning simply as standalone vehicles, ER-SX units are intended to operate as part of a connected system that coordinates vehicle availability, dispatching, diagnostics, operational monitoring and maintenance scheduling.

That system becomes increasingly important as Carziqo moves toward seven-day operations.

Keeping vehicles available throughout the week requires more than eliminating a scheduled maintenance day. It requires the fleet operator to identify when individual vehicles should remain in service, when they should be rotated out and when preventive intervention is necessary before technical issues affect operations.

Carziqo’s new maintenance model is intended to address that challenge.

A Broader Shift in Fleet Management

The move marks an important operational transition for the company.

Traditional fleet maintenance often relies on predictable servicing intervals or scheduled downtime because such systems are straightforward to manage across large numbers of vehicles.

Autonomous fleets, however, generate substantially more operational and technical data.

Mileage, route intensity, sensor status, software performance, charging cycles and vehicle utilization can all contribute to determining when a particular vehicle needs servicing.

Carziqo said its fleet management platform will increasingly use this vehicle-level information to coordinate maintenance without requiring the entire fleet to stop operating simultaneously.

The result could resemble a continuous rotation model: some vehicles remain available to passengers and logistics customers while others temporarily leave service for inspection or maintenance before returning to operation.

Such an approach is commonly important for mobility networks seeking to increase fleet availability without reducing maintenance standards.

More Available Hours for Ride-Hailing and Delivery

For passengers and logistics customers, the most visible effect of the change may simply be greater vehicle availability.

Under the previous model, Sunday maintenance reduced the number of hours during which vehicles could be deployed. With fixed weekly downtime being phased out, eligible vehicles may continue accepting operational assignments throughout the weekend.

That gives Carziqo additional flexibility to respond to fluctuations in passenger demand and delivery requirements.

Weekend transportation patterns can differ substantially from weekday activity, particularly in large urban markets where entertainment, airport travel, shopping, dining and other activities create demand outside conventional commuting hours.

A seven-day operating model gives the company the ability to allocate vehicles according to those patterns rather than automatically removing an entire portion of the fleet from service on a predetermined day.

Operational Implications for Vehicle Programs

The change may also be relevant to participants in Carziqo vehicle operation programs.

Where operational performance is influenced by the number of days and hours a vehicle is available for service, reducing scheduled fleet-wide downtime can create additional opportunities for vehicles to complete passenger or delivery assignments.

That does not mean every vehicle will operate continuously.

Individual units may still be unavailable because of maintenance, charging, diagnostics, route allocation, demand conditions or other operational requirements.

Instead, the principal difference is that downtime will increasingly be determined at the individual vehicle level rather than being automatically applied to the entire fleet every Sunday.

In practical terms, Carziqo is shifting from a “stop the fleet to maintain the fleet” model toward a “maintain each vehicle when required” model.

Autonomous Mobility Moves Toward Continuous Operations

As autonomous ride-hailing companies move from demonstration programs toward larger-scale commercial operations, fleet availability is becoming an increasingly important part of the technology equation.

Autonomous driving capability alone does not determine whether a mobility service can operate efficiently.

Companies must also coordinate cleaning, charging, preventive maintenance, software updates, sensor calibration, diagnostics and vehicle repositioning while keeping sufficient numbers of vehicles available for customers.

Carziqo’s latest operational change suggests the company is placing greater emphasis on that fleet-management layer.

The ER-SX deployment in Austin therefore represents both a vehicle launch and a test of a broader operating philosophy: autonomous vehicles that are managed continuously rather than according to a single weekly shutdown schedule.

For Carziqo, the transition toward Monday-to-Sunday operations reflects the next stage of building an autonomous mobility network in which vehicles, maintenance systems and fleet software operate as part of a continuously coordinated platform.

As the ER-SX begins service in Austin, the company’s focus is increasingly shifting from simply putting autonomous vehicles on the road to keeping those vehicles available, maintained and operational throughout the week.

MyGlit Introduces AI Rerouting to Help Jobseekers Find Better-Fit Roles Across Philippines Hiring

MANILA, Philippines — MyGlit, a recruitment operating system and job platform developed by Gratitude Jobs, has introduced AI Rerouting, a feature designed to help jobseekers be considered for better-fit vacancies when their original application does not fully match a specific role.

The feature is relevant for high-volume hiring across BPO, IT, shared services, customer support, healthcare, sales, back-office and multilingual roles, where applicants often apply for positions that seem suitable at first glance but may not meet the exact requirements after screening.

In many recruitment workflows, an applicant who does not fit one role may be rejected and forgotten, even if the same candidate could be suitable for another active vacancy. AI Rerouting is designed to reduce this gap by helping recruiters review whether a candidate may be a better match elsewhere.

Reducing candidate waste in high-volume recruitment

Across the Philippines, hiring teams often manage multiple vacancies across different clients, departments, locations and skill categories. A candidate may apply for a customer service role but be better suited for a non-voice process, healthcare account, IT support role, finance process, sales campaign or back-office opening.

Without a structured system, the candidate may be reviewed only once and then lost in the recruitment flow.

MyGlit’s AI Rerouting feature helps recruitment teams look beyond the first application and identify other active vacancies where the same candidate may be relevant.

“A good candidate should not be wasted simply because the first role was not the right match,” said a spokesperson for Gratitude Jobs. “AI Rerouting helps recruiters check whether another active vacancy may be more suitable, giving applicants more chances while helping employers make better use of the same candidate traffic.”

How AI Rerouting works

AI Rerouting reviews candidate information against active vacancies inside the MyGlit workflow. This can include application details, questionnaire responses, skills, experience, location preference, role requirements and recruiter notes.

When the system identifies a possible alternate match, the candidate can be surfaced for recruiter review instead of being treated as a closed application after one mismatch.

The feature does not replace recruiter judgment or employer screening. Instead, it supports recruitment teams by highlighting possible matches that may otherwise be missed in a manual process.

Helping applicants get more chances from one application journey

For jobseekers, the benefit is practical. Instead of being considered only for the first role they selected, applicants may receive visibility for other suitable opportunities within the same recruitment workflow, subject to role requirements and recruiter review.

This can be useful for first-time applicants, career shifters and candidates applying across different job categories. A candidate who initially applies for a voice account may be more suitable for a non-voice role. A candidate applying for IT support may also be relevant for a technical helpdesk or shared services process. Another applicant may not fit one location but may match a nearby opening.

By creating a second review path, AI Rerouting can help reduce the number of useful profiles that are lost after a single mismatch.

Supporting BPO, IT and shared services recruiters

MyGlit organizes recruitment work through Company Boards and Hiring Cards. Each vacancy can be managed as a Hiring Card, where job details, applicant activity, screening information and candidate status are kept together.

When a candidate is not ideal for one role, AI Rerouting can help recruiters check other active vacancies where the profile may fit better. This reduces dependence on spreadsheets, scattered communication and individual recruiter memory.

For recruitment teams handling BPO, IT, shared services, healthcare, sales and multilingual hiring, this structure can improve visibility across multiple roles and help teams create more joining opportunities from the same applicant pool.

Relevance for Manila, Cebu and other Philippines hiring hubs

The feature is relevant for both major city applicants and provincial jobseekers.

In Metro Manila, where applicants often apply across Makati, Quezon City, Bonifacio Global City, Pasig, Alabang and nearby areas, AI Rerouting can help recruiters identify alternate roles across multiple campaigns and employers.

In Cebu, where applicants may target openings in Cebu IT Park, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and nearby provinces, rerouting can help reduce wasted applications and improve visibility for candidates who may fit another active vacancy.

The same need also applies in other Philippine hiring hubs such as Clark, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao and Cagayan de Oro, where applicants may apply remotely or across multiple job categories before finding the right match.

Improving value from job traffic

Recruitment teams invest time and resources to attract applicants through job portals, social media, referrals, recruiter networks, email campaigns and direct sourcing. When a candidate is rejected once and forgotten, part of that sourcing effort is lost.

AI Rerouting is designed to help recruitment teams get more value from applicant traffic by turning a mismatch into another possible opportunity.

As hiring becomes more digital across the Philippines, features such as AI Rerouting may become increasingly important for both applicants and employers. For jobseekers, it can mean more chances from a single application journey. For recruiters, it can mean better use of available talent and cleaner candidate movement across open roles.

About Gratitude Jobs Ahead Hr inc

MyGlit is a recruitment operating system and applicant tracking platform developed by Gratitude Inc. The platform combines Company Boards, Hiring Cards, questionnaire-based screening, candidate tracking, job posting, recruiter collaboration and AI-assisted rerouting in one workflow. It is built for companies, recruitment consultancies and hiring teams that want to manage more vacancies, applicants and joining opportunities with less manual work. Website: https://www.myglit.com Book a demo: support@myglit.com