Opening Whistle
The Byte Forward Hackathon’s Metro Manila leg tipped off August 7–8 at Seda Vertis North in Quezon City, bringing ten top university teams into a nonstop, 24-hour battle for innovation glory.

The Arena
Organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Department of Trade and Industry, Converge SME Solutions, and Rev21 Labs, the event placed students face-to-face with real-world business challenges from PCCI members and Converge SME partners.

First Quarter – Strategy Sessions
From the starting buzzer, laptops lit up as competitors dissected problems in sales, inventory, and market intelligence, building solutions that could work in the field tomorrow.

Second Quarter – Prototyping Frenzy
Ideas became working products fast, from voice-powered apps to OCR-driven pricing tools, while mentors and judges roamed like courtside coaches offering real-time feedback.

Halftime Analysis
Ron Puno, CEO of Rev21 Labs, called the hackathon a launchpad for innovators, noting that the creativity and skill on display could transform enterprise operations nationwide.

Third Quarter – The Pitch
Teams presented live to a judging panel drawn from PCCI, Converge, and Rev21, with seconds on the clock to impress and sell their vision.

Final Scoreboard
First place went to De La Salle University for a voice-powered mobile app with AI-driven insights, auto-ordering, and smart sales suggestions.
Second place was claimed by Polytechnic University of the Philippines for a voice-command sales and stock logging system with an analytics dashboard.
Third place went to Asian Institute of Management for a web portal delivering MSMEs pricing assistance via OCR and data clustering.

Trophy Ceremony
Cash prizes of ₱50,000, ₱30,000, and ₱20,000 were awarded, with the top two teams also receiving a year of free internet.

Post-Game Reactions
PCCI’s Butch Guerrero praised the participants as proof that the Filipino youth are already shaping the nation’s digital future.
PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio said the event aligned with efforts to strengthen MSMEs and bridge the country’s digital gap.

Next Match
Winners from the Metro Manila round will face champions from other regions at the national finale on October 21–22 during the 51st Philippine Business Conference and Expo at SMX Convention Center, Manila, under the theme “The Future Is Now: Unleash the Power of Digital Transformation.”