Five agreements signed with TechShake, NexPlay, SCALE NCR, De La Salle University's Animo Labs, and Miriam College
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MANILA, 25 July 2026 — SEA Bridge (Really Corporation Co., Ltd., Thailand) today exchanged five memoranda of understanding with TechShake, NexPlay, SCALE NCR, De La Salle University's Animo Labs, and Miriam College, in the presence of H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and Mr. Emmanuel De Leon Samson, Special Envoy of the President of the Philippines for Thailand.
The exchange took place at the 2nd Thailand-Philippines Business Forum, "Forging a New Era of Economic Partnership," hosted by the Royal Thai Embassy in Manila at Dusit Thani Manila, with welcome remarks by H.E. Mrs. Makawadee Sumitmor, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the Republic of the Philippines. Opening the forum, the Deputy Prime Minister identified the Philippines as a market of strong potential and underscored the private sector's role in turning agreements into concrete outcomes. The forum drew some 120 representatives from both countries and produced nine private-sector agreements across energy, startups, and defense. SEA Bridge's five were the startup and innovation partnerships among them.
H.E. Mr. Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand
They address the three things a company most often lacks when crossing a border: a route into the market, a channel to real customers, and people who understand both sides.
SEA Bridge and TechShake, the Makati-based ecosystem builder that has connected startups, investors, and corporations across the region since 2016 and organizes IGNITE, the Philippines' premier innovation conference, will run joint market-entry programs and open reciprocal access to each other's flagship platforms, SEA Bridge's Gen SEA Summit and TechShake's IGNITE.
"Thai companies are serious about the Philippine market, and that was unmistakable in the room today,"
said Kotaro Adachi, Co-Founder and CEO of TechShake.
"Through SEA Bridge we will bring them to IGNITE and match them with Philippine startups and corporates."
SEA Bridge and NexPlay, the Philippine media and creator-network company that has grown from esports and influencer marketing into live commerce with one of Southeast Asia's largest creator networks, will help Thai startups and small and medium-sized enterprises sell directly to Philippine consumers through live-streamed commerce, and bring Philippine brands into Thailand on the same terms.
"We listened to the presentations and there were already brands we could work with,"
said Gabriel Paulo S. Benito, Founder and CEO of NexPlay.
"We have the creators and the platforms to put their products in front of an audience."
Three agreements connect Philippine university entrepreneurship to SEA Bridge's Institute of Entrepreneurship, a network of more than 15 universities now spanning seven countries:
Through these agreements, Filipino students enter SEA Bridge's Global Venture Launch and its global entrepreneurship programs, where young talent from Thailand, the Philippines, and the wider region builds ventures together rather than separately.
"Our incubators build strong companies at home. What our student founders need next is a region to build for,"
said Maria Cristina L. Ibañez, President of SCALE NCR.
"This partnership gives them peers, programs, and markets beyond the Philippines."
Trade between Thailand and the Philippines has long moved through large corporates and established channels. The agreements exchanged today open a second layer alongside them: the startups, SMEs, and student founders who rarely have the relationships, the market knowledge, or the local partners to cross a border on their own.
"Thailand and the Philippines have always felt like siblings to me,"
said Kasper-Tanakrit Sermsuksan, Founder and Chairman of SEA Bridge.
"Two countries at the heart of ASEAN, with the same warmth and the same instinct to make a guest feel at home. What we have not done enough of is build together, and that is what today begins to change."
"The infrastructure a young founder needs is not another road or port. It is relationships, platforms, and programs that help them find each other and start something,"
he added.
"What they create together will be more meaningful, and more inventive, than anything either country would have built alone. Today these partnerships stop being intentions and become real."
The first activations are already in motion. SEA Bridge and NexPlay will pilot a Thai snack brand on Philippine live-commerce platforms, testing consumer response and converting it directly into sales. Students from Miriam College and De La Salle University, together with members across the SCALE NCR network, now have access to Global Venture Launch 2026, SEA Bridge's cross-border venture program, and are invited to join.
SEA Bridge thanks the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Royal Thai Embassy in Manila for convening the forum and opening the door for Thai companies in the region, and its Philippine hosts and partners for a warm welcome.
SEA Bridge (Really Corporation Co., Ltd., Thailand) is an ASEAN cross-border venture and ecosystem builder. It helps people start and build new ventures, and helps companies expand beyond their home country into new markets, guiding the journey from understanding local demand to building partnerships and reaching customers. It trains the next generation of entrepreneurs through its Institute of Entrepreneurship, which works with more than 15 universities across the region, and hosts the Gen SEA Summit, a flagship gathering of founders, investors, and government partners.
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