Reality show The Final Pitch finds new home, reveals new judges

THE FINAL PITCH, a business reality show created by John S. Aguilar and Monica Hipolito-Aguilar, will air its 10^th season on OneNews on Cignal TV. The forthcoming edition of the program will be launched as the maiden season, with The Final Pitch: Philippines as its new name.

It will also be aired on GMA Life TV, GMA International’s overseas subscription channel.

The show is accepting entries from Philippine-based startups or individuals with ideas for new ventures until June 21.

Mr. Aguilar — who describes The Final Pitch: Philippines as Shark Tank, The Apprentice, and The Voice combined — said the next season “is the first season of a rebrand in light of our expansion to more territories around the globe.”

When CNN Philippines, where the show aired previously, closed, he said during the June 19 media launch, “we thought that was a big blow for us, but then two network partners opened up… It’s really been a blessing.”

The 10th season’s panel of investor-judges includes Su Le, an angel investor based in the United Arab Emirates; Abdul Paravengal, managing director of venture builder Pulse 63 Healthcare Ventures; Glenda Dela Cruz, founder of the skincare brand Brilliant Skin; and guest judge Rosemarie Bosch Ong, chief operating officer and senior executive vice-president of Wilcon Depot.

Entrepreneurs can pitch via the build, co-build, and rebuild models, according to Mr. Paravengal.

“Build is when you can run a business but don’t have an idea how… so you [start] from scratch. Co-build is when you started off already but think you can do better with institutional support, [whereas] rebuild is when we help revive your business,” he said.

Pulse 63 Healthcare prefers founders who are receptive to feedback and can stay the course, he said, adding, “We don’t like people who give up quickly.”

“While I am open to exploring other sectors, my primary interest lies within my sector,” Ms. Ong said at the same event.

The home improvement sector is large, and Ms. Ong said the work-from-home and home-business trends that emerged from the pandemic only served to expand its growth.

“It’s everybody’s aspiration to improve their spaces,” she told the media launch’s attendees. “I also want to see entrepreneurs in the lens of sustainability — not just in terms of climate change but in longevity of business.”

The judges were selected mostly through referrals and were aggregated in a way that “allows us to have a wide scope and breadth of the industries we can support,” according to Mr. Aguilar.

While the show is aware of the Securities and Exchange Commission challenges of Joseph H. Calata and Mica F. Tan, who served as judges on the show’s 2017 launch, Mr. Aguilar said they could not comment on the legal issues of the former judges.

The show is transparent in its dealings with all parties, he added.

“All I can say is we remain steadfast and focused on our mission, which has always been to help support entrepreneurs,” he said.

Interested applicants for the show may apply at . — Patricia Mirasol