DisruptorX 2026, a premier national pitch competition that brings together the country’s most innovative young minds to address real-world challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, took place on May 25at Limketkai Luxe Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.
It gathered high school and college students nationwide, alongside key stakeholders from investors, educational institutions, industry leaders, and government agencies, with a total prize pool of ₱600,000.
The grand winners under the college category are the following from Cebu Institute of Technology: Thomas Danjo Manulat, Simon Lyster Escano and Malt John Vianney Solon under coach Jun Albert Pardillo.
Their project is Pixcell, an AI-powered microscopy plug-in camera that is compatible offline to any standard microscop and laptop. It captures slides, runs AI anomalydetection in seconds and generates automated reports to be used as a medical diagnostic lab.
The grand winners under basic education category are the following from De La Salle University Senior High School: Jaime Luis de Guia, Aaron Luis Plata and Jian Loriz Santorcas under coach Mary Geraldine Yumang.
Their project is HuskUp, a portable water filter using rice husk biochar, gravel, sand and cotton mesh layers with a solar UVC sterilization lid to be used for off grid households, schools and disaster relief.
DisruptorX is the annual national pitching competition sufracing the srongest student-led ventures across our partner schools.
The 20 team finalists this year – ten basic education teams and ten college teams – emerged from hundreds of teams.
On demo day, they pitched their solutions to educators, industry leaders and prospective partners.
