Startup Reactor: Kicking off a Tech Startup Trend at Arcanys

The Startup Reactor began as an idea among the Arcanys management team in 2016 that quickly evolved into a company-wide event that all employees can join in. Last year, the tradition continued, and the participants were nothing short of excited.

Arcanys Startup Reactor kicked off on November 11th, bringing together 31 associates in 11 groups with one theme: How to develop your skills and improve your productivity as a developer?

What Happens During the Startup Reactor?

During the Startup Reactor, developers team up under a chosen topic. They brainstorm ideas, come up with innovative tech solutions, and rack their brain to polish their concept with valuable input from the management team—all while recharging batteries with a huge on-site buffet, of course! Get a glimpse of this remarkable day:

In the following weeks during Arcanys' special Wednesday Classes, the groups get to present their ideas to the other employees. For 30 minutes, each team explains their web or mobile app solution, taking advantage of people's comments and questions to improve their project and make it more viable.

It's no surprise that the groups are hard at work at coming up with thoughts that could well be developed into apps. Here is where we take a look at the ideas each team came up with and at how they could help others by building useful apps that provide convenience for many out there.

Changing the game: iCrest, CodeR and Jobibot

iCrest is a training platform that focuses not only on learning but also on turning Arcanys into a learner's playground. "It aims to provide regular training engagement, pre-defined learning, and training requests through surveys, suggestions, and awards," Lovella, Alvie, and Geralyn explain.

Another great idea to improve developers' productivity is CodeR, a platform imagined by iOS developers Djane and Geraldine to solve common problems, such as repetitive codes and the lack of reviewers. "It gives human reviewers more time to focus on other things," Geraldine says. CodeR scans and reviews codes, saving stats and dev performance. "Of course, it would also be customized to Arcanys' needs and have data-driven analytics," Djane adds.

Oh, and then there’s Jobibot (we have our administrative coordinator Jobi to thank for inspiring that name!), a bot that answers the most common questions a developer has, like how many leave credits they have left or how much their accumulated bonus is. Earvin, Eldridge, Jonard and Lyndon believe that this bot will "prove handy for the entire Admin and HR departments since it'll save them precious time from answering every employee's queries."

What’s Next for the Startup Reactor?

It looks like the Startup Reactor isn’t going away anytime soon. With the enthusiasm and drive of employees to participate, it’ll be around in the years to come.

Arcanys unit manager George Cordero, who also organized the event, comments that he "loves how some groups came up with ideas that drive us to be self-managing and to excel individually.”

He’s also hoping that the Startup Reactor can "help people realize that they are more than the equipment they use," pointing out that "their success hinges only on themselves."

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