The short answer: 12 ventures — selected from 487 applications across the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia — join Impact Hub Manila's INCUBATE 2026 program, with a combined incubation package worth ₱42 million in services, mentorship and follow-on funding access.
INCUBATE is Impact Hub Manila's flagship six-month residency for impact-driven startups. The 2026 cohort, which begins on April 1 and culminates in a public demo day on October 8, marks the first year the program officially welcomes founders from across Southeast Asia — a deliberate move to strengthen regional cross-pollination.
The 2026 cohort by the numbers
- 487 applications · 12 ventures selected · acceptance rate 2.5%
- 4 countries represented: Philippines (8), Vietnam (2), Indonesia (1), Malaysia (1)
- 58% of founding teams are women-led
- ₱42M in combined incubation value (mentorship, legal/IP, cloud credits, investor access)
- 14 partner investors with first-look rights at demo day
The 12 ventures
The 2026 cohort organizes around four impact verticals — Health, Climate & Energy, Agritech, and Inclusive Finance — chosen to mirror the SDGs where Southeast Asia faces the steepest 2030 gaps.
Health (3 ventures)
- Salus Health (PH) — telehealth-to-clinic referral platform for underserved provinces.
- NerveNotes (PH) — clinical-note copilot for community health workers, Filipino-language first.
- Pulih (ID) — Bahasa-language postnatal care companion built with midwives.
Climate & Energy (3 ventures)
- Sariling Init (PH) — community microgrid financing for off-grid islands.
- BukidCarbon (PH) — soil-carbon MRV for smallholder rice farms, designed for Article 6 markets.
- NgheNăngLượng (VN) — distributed solar leasing for rural Vietnamese SMEs.
Agritech (3 ventures)
- Mayani 2.0 (PH) — alumna re-entry from the 2021 cohort, now scaling farm-to-table to 200,000 households.
- RootRoute (PH) — cold-chain matching for Visayas and Mindanao seafood and produce.
- SawitSmart (MY) — small-grower palm sustainability compliance platform.
Inclusive Finance (3 ventures)
- SuKredit (PH) — ₱5,000–₱50,000 credit lines for sari-sari store operators, underwritten with cash-flow data.
- BangkoSariwa (PH) — group savings circles digitized for OFW-receiving households.
- SeyToken (VN) — community-pooled crop insurance settlement on a regulated stablecoin rail.
"INCUBATE is not an accelerator that asks you to grow at any cost. It asks you to grow on terms that are accountable to the community you serve."
— Ces Rondario, Founder & CEO, Impact Hub Manila
What changed in 2026
Three deliberate changes set INCUBATE 2026 apart from prior cohorts:
- Regional eligibility. For the first time, founders headquartered outside the Philippines may apply, provided they commit to a Manila operations footprint within the residency.
- Outcome-based incubation. Mentorship and capital access are gated by impact milestones agreed with each venture — not just revenue.
- AI-readiness clinic. Every venture in the cohort goes through a four-week clinic on responsible AI deployment, including a privacy and bias review by external experts.
How to engage
If you are an investor, mentor, or partner organization interested in the 2026 cohort, applications for our partner network are open year-round. Demo Day will take place on October 8, 2026 at the Picadilly Star, Bonifacio Global City — and online.
Applications for INCUBATE 2027 open September 1, 2026. Read more about our work on our news page, or learn about our other programs on the homepage.