Leave a Nest Philippines Moves FOURward as it Celebrates its 4th Anniversary

The Leave a Nest Group established its Philippine subsidiary on March 10, 2021 with Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla as its Managing Director. Carrying the mission of “Harmonizing Science and Technology Stakeholders for the Empowerment of Filipinos”, Leave a Nest Philippines continued the activities started by the Japan office and developed new programs catering to the needs of Filipino students, teachers, researchers, institutions and industries. 

Last March 15, 2025, Leave a Nest Philippines celebrated another year full of collaboration and partnerships with 70 guests from schools, universities, government institutions and private organizations. The Anniversary Party entitled “FOURWARD” was held in Prestige Tower, Pasig City and was graced by two of Leave a Nest Group’s founders: Dr. Yukihiro Maru and Dr. Shuichiro Takahashi.

The Science Bridge Leader: How Leave a Nest Achieves Great Things

The event was opened by Engr. Ronezza Delos Santos, one of the Directors of Leave a Nest Philippines. She shared the history of the company from the time she joined as one of its pioneer members, and expressed thanks to all those who have been part of the company’s four-year journey. She emphasized that Leave a Nest Philippines will continue to build the science and technology (S&T) ecosystem in the country through the partnerships that have been formed and will incessantly be forming.

Engr. Ronezza Delos Santos delivering her Opening Remarks

Engr. Delos Santos also introduced the concept of Science Bridge Communication, the way the company creates value by bridging different sectors of society related to science and technology. This was followed by the awarding of a certificate to Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla as the first certified Filipino Science Bridge Leader (SBL). Dr. Dulla then shared his SBL theme: “Nurture people who can turn coincidences into things of worth” (Japanese: 数ある偶然を価値あることに変えられる人を育てる) and invited the audience to accompany him in this journey – which can be through partnering with current projects such as SCENT (Science Entrepreneurship Training) and even the creation of new projects that can help people make the most of their current resources.

Dr. Yevgeny Aster Dulla (right) was awarded with his Science Bridge Leader Certification by Dr. Yukihiro Maru (left)

Appointment of New Directors of Leave a Nest Philippines

Dr. Dulla introduced those who also took a new challenge and became the newly-appointed Directors of Leave a Nest Philippines: Mr. Ronrick Arayata and Mr. Bryan Foronda. They were also congratulated by the current Directors Dr. Yukihiro Maru and Dr. Yuko Ueno, with the latter being through a video message. In addition, Mr. Jeffrey Maloles, one of the outgoing Directors of Leave a Nest Philippines, expressed that he will always be open to support Leave a Nest Philippines, and that he is very excited with the new Directors joining the management team. 

Mr. Arayata has been with the Company upon establishment of the Company in 2021 being under the Education Development Division and Mr. Foronda has joined the pioneer team since 2022 as part of the Research Development Division. The newly-appointed directors have expressed their gratitude for the trust of the members and shared their commitment in attaining the grand vision of bringing together Science and Technology stakeholders by connecting and bridging with more institutions in order to steer the direction of the company going forward. Leveraging their work for the past years, they emphasized the significance of inter-sectoral partnerships to improve both the S&T Education and S&T-based Startup Ecosystem, or often referred to as Deep Tech Startup Ecosystem. Building on this, all 12 local members of Leave a Nest Philippines also shared their own personal visions for the Philippines and encouraged collaborators to join them.

New set of Directors of Leave a Nest Philippines: (left to right): Dr. Dulla, Mr. Ronrick Arayata, Dr. Maru, Mr. Bryan Foronda, Engr. Delos Santos

Knowledge Manufacturing Continues

The sharing of hopeful and progressive visions was followed by a panel discussion sponsored by UntroD Capital Asia and Leave a Nest Japan entitled “Progressing Deep Tech Forward.” This session discussed the current status and potential growth of support and investments for deep tech innovations in the Philippines from startups’ and investors’ perspectives and was moderated by Mr. Bryan Foronda. The panelists include Ms. Gillian Santos (CEO & Co-founder, Anihan Technologies), Mr. Sergius Santos (CEO & Co-founder, SolX Technologies), Mr. Saturnino Mejia (General Manager, National Development Company) and Mr. Daiki Kumamoto (Director, UntroD Capital Asia Pte. Ltd.). Through this 60-minute session, they pinpointed the focus on deep tech innovation here in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It emphasized that key factors in initiating this deep tech ecosystem is by anchoring the mindset towards entrepreneurship, the importance of addressing real-world problems and market demand, and the role of government and private sector collaboration in fostering growth. In order to push the boundaries of this startup sector, there is a pressing need to address challenges in funding, valuation, and finding the right investors alongside few practical advice for startup founders in attendance. With the panel focusing on deep tech startup funding, several funding schemes were enumerated. However, besides considering the specific funding amounts and ticket sizes, the panelists shed light on treating investors as partners. Under this mindset, it allows startups to embody a lens during fund raising that the process of finding the investors should bring in not only funding, but knowledge and network value to the startup. Overall, the potential for the Philippine deep tech ecosystem was emphasized with optimism for future growth and collaboration.

Panel Discussion on “Progressing Deep Tech Forward” with (left to right) Mr. Foronda, Ms. Gillian Santos, Mr. Sergius Santos, Mr. Mejia and Mr. Kumamoto

Partnerships in the Nest  

After a toast, DOST Science Education Institute, National Development Company, Focus Systems Corporation, M Diagnostics Philippines, SCALE NCR, Adamson University, Mapua University and Top Link Global College also extended their congratulatory messages and hopes for sustained alliances.

Partners sharing their messages: [left to right] Mr. Saturnino Mejia (National Development Company), Mr. Ryo Inori (Focus Systems Corporation), Ms. Roselle Young (M Diagnostics Philippines), Mr. Nico Tubban (Adamson University / SCALE NCR), Dr. Delia Senoro (Mapua University), Mr. Aniceto Ureta (Top Link Global College)

The last special session of the event was a panel discussion on “How Research Based Education (RBE) can shape the future of the Philippines” moderated by Dr. Dulla. In this session, representatives from private and public institutions discussed the current situation of science education and research in the Philippines and explored possible ways to improve it as they envision the younger generation to make a difference in the country. Mr. Restie Concepcion (Managing Director, College of Arts and Sciences of Asia and the Pacific) represented private schools, while Ms. Mary Ann Aclado (Mariveles National High School – Poblacion) and Mr. Nathaniel Sebastian (Gov. Efren B. Pascual Sr. Orani Integrated Central School) represented public institutions. The panelists pointed out how finances and equipment are the main factors hampering the quality of science education and science research at the high school level – and that they believe that private companies should also provide support for such as creating better quality of education for the younger generation allows them for better talent that they can hire in the future.

Panel discussion on Research-Based Education with (left to right) Dr. Dulla, Mr. Concepcion, Ms. Aclado and Mr. Sebastian

Dr. Shuichiro Takahashi (Representative Director & COO, Leave a Nest Co., Ltd.) concluded the event by reminiscing how Leave a Nest Japan established their Osaka office after their fourth anniversary. He then promised that Leave a Nest Philippines will also challenge new things to nurture the next generation, and encourage researchers and entrepreneurs as it enters its fifth year.

Dr. Shuichiro Takahashi delivering his closing remarks

As the theme of the party indicates, Leave a Nest will continue to push FOURward to Harmonize Science and Technology Stakeholders for the Empowerment of Filipinos. In the following years, we are hoping more partners can join us with this mission and create new things together.