PH100 2026: David Castro and Emmanuel Irog-Irog of Third Team Named Among the Philippines' Brightest Under 30
Fleire Castro
Managing Principal
David Alfonso M. Castro and Emmanuel Irog-Irog of Third Team Ventures are on PH100 2026, StellarPH's yearly list of the 100 brightest minds in the Filipino startup ecosystem under the age of 30.
On 1 October, Emmanuel sent me a screenshot of the list. His name was on it, and so was David's. I have been smiling about it for days.
David Alfonso M. Castro, Software Engineer and Founder of Ace Signal
On PH100, David is listed as Software Engineer and Founder of Ace Signal. At Third Team he runs our special projects. I have watched him take a client's rough idea, sketch it, build it, put it live, and then write about the work here on our blog.
Emmanuel Irog-Irog, Fractional CTO of The Elixir Aesthetics Center
On PH100, Emmanuel is listed as Fractional CTO of The Elixir Aesthetics Center, one of our clients. At Third Team he is our Head of Technology and AI Partner. When a client asks me whether AI can really do something, Emmanuel is the engineer I call first.
What PH100 2026 means for Third Team
I started Third Team Media in Cebu in 2010. In 2014 our team won a Silver Stevie for Services Company of the Year. One line in our culture code says that working well with your teammates is what makes us winners. I still believe that.
Sixteen years in, I now get to watch the younger people on our team win, and I am very proud of them.
Congratulations, David and Emmanuel. Keep building. And congratulations to the whole PH100 2026 class. See the full PH100 2026 list on StellarPH. Portraits by StellarPH.