Frustrated by the confusing and scattered process of finding educational funding, a team of Filipino college students took matters into their own hands. They built iSkolar, a centralized scholarship platform powered by blockchain and artificial intelligence, which recently earned a Top 10 spot and a ₱100,000 cash prize at the Project RISE startup competition.
The platform was developed to address a pain point the founders knew firsthand: the highly fragmented and manual process of securing scholarships in the Philippines, where opportunities are scattered across multiple websites and visibility into the application process is severely limited.
An All-Student Founding Team
iSkolar is spearheaded by an all-student founding team: Justin Luzano (Founder and CEO), Adam Ruadilla (Co-Founder and COO), and Louigie Caminoy (Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer).
To solve the inefficiencies they experienced as students, the team built a centralized system where learners can browse opportunities, build profiles, submit requirements, and track their applications in one place. For scholarship providers and educational institutions, the platform offers tools to define eligibility criteria, review applicants, and organize workflows.
“We are building iSkolar because too many students are forced to work harder than necessary just to find support that should already be within reach,” Luzano stated.
Integrating Blockchain and AI
The platform integrates emerging technologies to manage the backend operations of scholarship distribution securely and efficiently:
- Blockchain for Credentials and Funds: The platform utilizes blockchain technology to facilitate transparent fund disbursements. Additionally, credentials issued through iSkolar are verified on-chain. This allows sponsors to independently confirm the authenticity of a student’s documents without needing to manually contact the issuing educational institution.
- AI for Matching and Monitoring: Artificial intelligence is integrated to improve how scholarship programs are matched with eligible applicants, while also assisting sponsors in managing and monitoring their ongoing programs.
Current Status and Roadmap
The platform is currently in its beta phase and is accessible at iskolar.io, where the student developers are testing core features with early users.
According to the team’s development timeline, the third quarter of 2026 will focus on piloting institutional integrations. The startup is preparing for early collaborations with initiatives at the University of Makati, as well as student organizations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)–Sta. Mesa and Taguig City University.
Following these pilot programs, the founders plan to initiate a broader rollout across the Philippines in the fourth quarter, aiming to connect a wider network of students with the opportunities they deserve.
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This article is published on BitPinas: These Filipino Students Built an AI and Blockchain-Powered Scholarship Platform to Fix Education Funding
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