UPSCALE is the innovation hub in the University of the Philippines Diliman, borne from the partnership between UP and the Department of Science and technology. It houses 3 primary program, namely UP Enterprise, an accelerator program for early stage startups; IGNITE, a market-driven product development program for industry collaborations; and EntreLead, a scaling up program for technology startups with initial investment and traction. UPSCALE also leverages on its vast academe network and assists Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) through capacity building. This includes training professors to teach Technopreneurship in engineering classes in 10 HEIs in Metro Manila as part of the national TechHub project of the Commission on Higher Education - Institutional Development and Innovation Grants (CHED-IDIG). In addition, UPSCALE through UP Enterprise, trains and collaborates with new and current DOST-PCIEERD-funded technology business incubator (TBI) managers in more than 30 HEIs in the Philippines in HEI Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship Development Program (HEIRIT) project. In the next 2 years, UPSCALE moves towards international collaborations through TBI 4.0 Project of DOST. The hub seeks to level up its program on Deep Technology (energy, environment, health, electronics, AI), and adds local and international partnerships in Food Innovation and Social Enterprise. It shall be a venue to prepare local startups and assist new TBIs to qualify for international co-incubation. Moreover, UPSCALE as a soft landing partner, explores international partnerships to bring startups from abroad to the Philippines.
