As our 30-degree tropical winter sets into Cambodia, we review an incredibly packed year. Some amazing additions to Team Raintree have enabled the project to grow from much more than just a workspace, to a community fuelled by a passion for education, entrepreneurship and social impact. We take a look back at the events that made Raintree's 2018.
Cambodia's digital economy has been front and centre of both the private and public sector agenda this year with the launch of several programs and funds. As a big supporter of tech, Raintree has been at the heart of the action - from facilitating the localisation of international programs to conducting industry research. There were a number of firsts for the country - from hosting a Cambodian qualifier for e27's APAC Top100 startup competition and the launch of the inaugural Seedstars bootcamp in Phnom Penh - both held right here at the Canopy on our rooftop. The program culminated with the inaugural Tech Summit, where we were also honoured to launch the Cambodian Startup Tech Report.
A collaboration between Mekong Strategic Partners and Raintree, the report was commissioned by Smart Axiata and NIPTICT, to provide a fact base on our tech startup sector and strategic recommendations for stakeholders to spur growth. It's a piece of work we are very proud of and hope is a useful resource for anyone currently working in or interested in our burgeoning startup sector. Look out for the full release on our website in January 2019.
Beyond tech, the project has supported a roster of social initiatives. Although the World Economic Forum hosted it's ASEAN conference in Phnom Penh last year, there have never been any of its community initiatives fully established in the city. We are excited to support the launch of the first Global Shapers Hub Phnom Penh, with two members of Team Raintree as founding Shapers, whose first projects will be announced soon for 2019. In more creative spheres, the project housed an incredible music production workshop for Cambodian artists by the British Embassy and Sound Initiative, plus the awesome returning b-boy diaspora Andrew Mam kicking off Cambodia's first new style hustle community with Sunday Sessions @ the Canopy. Check out our events page for more details. We are always looking for more collaborators on our expanding programs, so if any of these sound interesting to you, please get in touch with Team Raintree anytime.
Finally we topped of the year with our second edition of Christmas @ Raintree earlier this month. In partnership with Invade (experience creators from Singapore) and CULT (the Kingdom's sustainable marketplace), the even bigger celebration saw over two thousand people flood our rooftop with 60+ creative vendors for our festive pop-up market. A big thank you to everyone who made the event so special and to everyone (small and big!) who came out to celebrate with us. We'd also like to take the end of year as an opportunity to thank you, our friends and partners, who continue to proverbially 'water' our Raintree project and enable our professional community to continue to thrive.
Until next year, the team are off for some R&R and well-deserved holidays. Wishing everyone a merry merry Christmas and a very happy (international) new year! See you all in 2019...
Team Raintree