Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020 by Foxmont Capital Partners

PHILIPPINEVENTURE
CAPITALREPORT E-COMMERCE
SHOWSPROMISEWITHE-COMMERCEGROSS
2020
MERCHANDISEVALUEPROJECTEDTOREACH
USD$12.0BILLIONBY2025, ONTRACKTO
BECOMINGAMONGTHEFASTEST-GROWING
INSOUTHEASTASIA
FIRSTHALFOF2020
RECORDSUSD$51.8MILLIONINEARLY-STAGE
FUNDING,HIGHERTHANFULL-YEAR2019OF
USD$37.9MILLION,WITHFINTECH,ITAND
SOFTWARE, ANDTRANSPORTANDLOGISTICS
ASLEADINGSECTORS
IMPACTOFCOVID-19
ACCELERATESGROWTHINFINTECH,
WITHTRANSACTIONVALUESFORECASTED
TOINCREASEBY24%ATTHEENDOF2020
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
D ATA & D I S T R I B U T I O N D ATA & D I S T R I B U T I O N D ATA PA R T N E R C O N S U LTA N T P U B L I C AT I O N

PA R T N E R PA R T N E R PA R T N E R
Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 1 11/16/2020 11:23:31 AM

DEARCOLLEAGUES,
Our report launches in the midst of one of the most significant global challenges that we will collectively
face in a lifetime. We keep everyone in our thoughts as we navigate through this new normal. CONTENTS
We do appreciate that it’s a difficult time for all, and we present this report with the greatest sensitivity.
Deal flow and venture capital activity seems secondary to the collective challenge that we all face, but we
do want support and showcase our local community.
OVERVIEW&
It is interesting to note that despite the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the Philippines in 2020, there was still ANALYSIS
some marked movement and growth in deals. 5 At A Glance
7 Deal Activity
With that in mind, we are proud to present our first venture capital report – one of the first that focuses
on deal activity in the Philippines. This report will introduce many of the major players in the Philippine 11 Top 20 Largest
startup industry - from the various established and nascent funds, to the startups that are beginning to Startup Transactions
take hold.
Despite the economic burden that COVID-19 has placed on this country and all others, we’ve found one
thing to be clear: that startup activity in the Philippines has matured significantly in a very short period
of time.
DISCUSSIONS
14 Covid-19 Impact
Just within the past three years, we’ve seen fund managers like Kickstart and JG DEV announce new funds 16 Sector Discussions
from $250 million to $50 million respectively. We’ve seen the establishment of the Venture Capital and 24 Key Players & Developments
Private Equity Association of the Philippines (VCAP) and the Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN), both
created to organize and structure the investing side of the industry. Additionally, the ecosystem as a
whole has jumped 17 global positions from 70th in 2017 to 53rd in 2020.
INSIGHTS
We’ve observed that despite COVID-19, the first half of 2020 saw USD$51.8 million in venture capital
funding, which surpasses the entirety of 2019’s amount of USD$37.9 million. 28 Interviews with Various
Stakeholders
Meanwhile, on the startup side, there’s been
LEARNING
significant activity that’s been rarely seen
before in the Philippines. Locally founded
companies like coins.ph have exited, while
newer companies like Kumu have found
strong local and even regional support. MATERIALS
38 Patents, Trademarks, &
The increased activity in the industry, mixed Copyrights 101
with the challenges related to COVID-19
truly make this a unique time in the 39 Term Sheets 101
Philippines. We hope that you find 40 Introduction to Venture Capital
this inaugural edition of our report
insightful and helpful.
If you have any questions or need ANNEX

further details, please feel free to 48 References & Methodology
reach out to any of Foxmont’s General
Partners or our Fund Principal,
Santino Ongsiako.
Signed, Jesse Maxwell Franco Varona Mark Kooijman

Partner Managing Partner Partner
CONTRIBUTORS
FOXMONTCAPITALPARTNERS PWCPHILIPPINES UBX

Editors Lead Coordinator Lead Coordinator
Reyna Mabulay Karen Patricia Rogacion Matthew Kolling
Catrina Magsadia
Fides Morales
QBOINNOVATIONHUB MANILAANGELINVESTORS
Chelsey Pua
Miguel Villenas Lead Coordinators NETWORK
Jeremy Young Natasha Bautista Lead Coordinator
Katrina Chan James Lette
Director
Santino Ongsiako
03 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020
Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 3 11/21/2020 11:43:39 PM

Investments in Philippine startups have improved in the past three years. While the number of
corporate venture arms, VCs, and angel investors in the country has grown, we still need to catch
up with the rest of Southeast Asia. With the world’s current situation, a majority of investors are
taking a wait-and-see approach.
Given the difficulties that businesses are facing, I hope that investors, specifically VCs and cor-
porates, will adjust their requirements to help more startups in the Philippines. We can explore
financing options creatively to help manage the risks while enabling our entrepreneurs. The
government may also help boost such investments by introducing incentives for startup investors.
Congratulations to Foxmont Capital for launching the first VC report in the Philippines. We at PwC
Philippines are privileged to contribute to this initiative. We hope that this report inspires more
corporates and VCs from the Philippines and other countries to support our local startups.
Our startup ecosystem has been growing at a faster rate until COVID-19. While several startups
are experiencing challenges at this time, I am confident that our creative and agile entrepreneurs
will thrive in the changing market environment. With proper support from the government and
investors, our startups will get through this.
Alexander B. Cabrera
Chairman and Senior Partner
The Philippine startup ecosystem has undergone tremendous change over the past few years.
Startups and enablers alike have pushed boundaries and produced results including high profile
exits with substantial returns to investors, all of which have generated increased interest in the
country’s startup ecosystem.
With a vibrant community brimming with highly-skilled and ingenious entrepreneurs, we’re
certainly geared towards making the Philippines a diverse startup powerhouse. Motivated
by the vision of Filipino startups changing the world, QBO plays a key role in developing the
Philippines as a center for innovation and unleashing the potential of an entrepreneurship-driven
economy through ‘moving ideas forward’. QBO continues to aim to be a catalyst that helps local
startups thrive, and serve as a platform dedicated to helping aspiring entrepreneurs develop
groundbreaking solutions and transform their ideas into profitable ventures.
Although we’ve made significant strides in cultivating the Philippine innovation ecosystem and
continue to experience a surge in the volume of disruptive technology, our local venture capital
ecosystem remains extremely opaque—a barrier to creating a globally competitive startup
landscape. As the industry is poised to rapidly mature over the next few years, encouraging
investor participation is critical in sustaining the local startup scene’s momentum and traction.
I truly believe that a thriving ecosystem of venture capital and angel investors is interlinked with
the growth and success of our Filipino-led startups.
While caught against the crippling backdrop of a pandemic, prospects of the Philippines’ startup
ecosystem remain positive as the country continues to accelerate its entrepreneurial culture.
Heading into 2021, we hope to keep the ecosystem abuzz through providing a macro-focused
venture capital report that will help generate increased investor participation which in turn will
further fuel the engine of the local startup ecosystem.
Rene “Butch” Meily

President

ATAGLANCE
VENTURECAPITAL: THESUNRISEINDUSTRYOFTHEPHILIPPINES
The Philippine startup ecosystem is on the rise, ranking 53rd across the globe in 2020 and advancing by 17 positions from its rank in 2017. It is home
to 400+ startups, 50+ angel investors, 40+ venture capitalists, and 35+ incubators and accelerators and has seen an estimated 47 known deals in
2019. The Philippines also continues to experience an increasing level of startup activity across its regions. Metro Manila, the country’s National
Capital Region located in the Luzon island group, recently joined Startup Blink’s 100 cities club to rank 88th among 1,000 cities across the globe and
has advanced by an astonishing 830 positions from its rank in 2017. Meanwhile, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro located in Visayas and Mindanao,
respectively, also made noteworthy developments in 2020 rankings.
Between 2018 and the first half of 2020, total investments into startups in the Philippines amounted to about $547M. Of these, venture capital
investments totaled approximately $200M with significant average year-on-year growth. The funding values of the first half of 2020 alone, which
include private equity investments in startup companies, surpassed 2019 year-round values at $184M and $38M, respectively, registering about a
384% increase so far. The industry has also been seeing increasing maturity with the smallest funding rounds, from accelerators and incubators to
early-stage funding, contributing more and more to the Philippine total. Whereas in 2018, these rounds in aggregate make up only 12% of funds
raised, it has gone up to 86% of total funds raised in 2019, and to 26% of the total in the first half of 2020. The venture capital industry in the
Philippines remains relatively small but is remarkably poised for growth across the board.
Metro Manila ecosystem valued at The Philippines ranks 53rd Manila ranks 36th for Startup
USD 1.6 billion by Startup Genome across the globe with Genome’s Top 100 Emerging
Startup Blink Ecosystems
USD 1.6 B
Manila scores highly in Market Reach and
51 Slovakia Talent, while Funding remains to be a challenge
52 South Africa Factor Scores (Highest: 10)

5 PERFORMANCE
USD 378M 53 Philippines*
3 FUNDING
54 Indonesia
10 MARKET REACH
2019 2020 55 Cyprus
Ecosystem Value: sum of total exit valuations * Represented by Manila, Cebu and 7 TALENT
and startup valuations in a 2.5 year period Cagayan de Oro
STARTUPSAREATTHEFOREFRONTOF
PHILIPPINEDIGITIZATION
The rise of the digital economy posits the continuous growth of many information technology and Software-As-A-Service offering offline
startup sectors in the country. The number of internet users stands at to online solutions, or the entry into untapped geographic regions in
65 million people as of 2019, representing a 67% internet penetration sectors such as digital banking, web-based traffic management, and
rate, and is forecasted to reach 92% by 2031 due to sustained efforts to e-commerce. Another evident trend is a shift away from established
improve mobile experience and digital connectivity by the government business centers like Makati and Taguig into promising areas such as
and major players in the private sector. Improvements in infrastructure, Pasig, Mandaluyong, and Quezon City. In fact, the leading city in terms
along with a young, tech-savvy population driving the demand for of deal value in the past three years is Mandaluyong City, accounting for
digital products and services, have encouraged the rapid emergence of approximately 62% of total funds raised in the Philippines. Additionally,
tech startups across the board. investment activity has also been progressively moving outside of Metro
Manila, with cities like Davao being a prime choice for bases outside of
The Philippines is evidently moving towards digitization efforts across NCR. These trends suggest an unmistakable growth course for digital
different industries, with a significant majority of startup fundraising inclusivity spearheaded by startups.
in the past three years targeted towards either the expansion of

STARTUPFOUNDERSANDINVESTORSEXPECTAPROMISING
FUTUREINTHELANDSCAPE- 2020PHILIPPINESTARTUPSURVEY
The Philippines enjoys a talented
English-speaking workforce, a young
population with a median age of FOUNDERS INVESTORS
25.7 years old, and an economy
that is globalizing at an increasing
rate. The growth of local founders is
accelerated by many advantages for
96% are confident about their 78%are confident about their
today’s entrepreneurs, including access prospects for revenue growth prospects for revenue growth
to more mentors, the entry of new over the next two years over the next two years
funds and investors, and the rising
number of successes. Today, capital is
not only flowing into businesses with
the purpose of regional expansion
95%are planning to enter 73%want to inject up to $5
- it’s pouring into original ideas and into strategic partnerships in million in Philippine startups in
energetic founders. The country is the next 12 months the next three years
experiencing a shift from an ecosystem
that has traditionally been dominated
by subsidiaries of foreign startups, to
seeing an emergence of home-grown
95%are aiming to enter new 65%have exit plans in the
startups solving inherently Filipino
territories in the next 5 years next three to five years
problems through new and imaginative
solutions
THEPHILIPPINESSTILLWAITSONLOCALHEROES
The developments of the country’s ecosystem can be
attributed to the increasing number of participants and level
Global Ave: of involvement from key stakeholders, the growing existence
USD 431M The Philippines of innovation infrastructures and platforms, as well as the
requires more collaborative culture of a young industry.
early-stage
But despite exciting prospects for the future, taking the
funding - Startup landscape to the next level presents its own set of challenges.
Manila: Genome The lack of external funding has been slowing the growth of
the industry in comparison to Southeast Asian neighbors,
USD 102M
with a funding void making it difficult for businesses
to quickly scale. A majority of support systems such as
government legislation, incubators, and sandboxes have
been focused on early stage efforts, and initiatives to boost
The PH trails behind its SEA neighbors startups in the growth stage towards becoming unicorns have
in terms of deal volume - CB Insights remained scarce. Consequently, the absence of local unicorns
and more success stories have kept promising startups under
Indonesia the radar from offshore sources of capital.
USD 2.93B
The country’s technical talent pool also needs to match that
Thailand of neighboring regions like Singapore. More traditional career
USD 114.6M
aspirations have likewise dwarfed entrepreneurship potential
Vietnam in the country, with graduates tending towards corporate
USD 39.9M
jobs with stable paychecks. Lastly, brain drain remains
Philippines prevalent in the workforce, and surveys among Generation
USD 31.3M Z and millennial (15 to 34 year-old) Filipinos reveal that a
Values as of August 2019 significant number (53%) have desires of working abroad in
the next 3 years.

THEFIRSTHALFOF2020SURPASSES2019
INTERMSOFVENTURECAPITALDEALACTIVITY
The first half of 2020 recorded USD 51.8 million in
venture capital funding in the Philippines at the early-
stage level, surpassing 2019’s recorded amount of
USD 37.9 million, but still far behind 2018’s recorded
amount of USD 110.2 million. Activity for 1H2020 was
driven by capital raised at the seed round which totaled
USD 24.0 million and is heavily attributable to the Tonik
Financial deal which raised USD 21.0 million. Deal flow
remained slower with 14 completed deals in 1H2020 as
compared to the 24 deals recorded in 1H 2019.
M&A refers to corporate mergers and acquisitions transac-

tions involving startup companies and were included to pro-
vide a more comprehensive overview of startup deal activity,
Private Equity refers to funds raised from private equity funds
or funds raised at a much later stage, and Venture encom-
passes earlier fundraising such as venture capital, venture
debt, and accelerator funding.
Funds Raised refers to capital raising activity for private equity and
venture, and exclude M&A
INTHEPASTTHREEYEARS, TOP6DEALSACCOUNT
FOR80%OFTOTALFUNDSRAISED
The Philippine startup ecosystem still remains in its nascent is a noteworthy transaction setting a precedent which is
stages with 6 deals in the past three years accounting for believed to pave the way for more landmark exits to come.
nearly 80% of total startup funds raised. This is expected Funds raised saw a spike in Q4 2018 and Q2 2020 because
to become less concentrated as the ecosystem matures of private equity capital raised by Voyager Innovations in
and becomes witness to successful landmark exits. Gojek’s the amounts of USD 175.0 million and USD 120.0 million,
investment into Coins.ph in January 2019, for example, respectively.

FIRSTHALFOF2020SEESSIGNIFICANT
DEALACTIVITYDESPITECOVID-19
The first half of 2020 yielded This indicates that the market Tonik, Inc is an example of a With the exception of deals with
substantial announced deal has been pivoting its focus and regional startup staking their private equity firms, the first half
activity, bringing $184M in capital support from traditional financial claim to build the first digital-only of 2020 saw over 390% more
for startups. The FinTech sector services towards innovative bank in the Philippines. While capital invested in Philippine
in particular was responsible for solutions and technology-driven the country has been overlooked startups as compared to the same
over 80% of the total announced enhancements to processes, in the past, it’s interesting to see period of the prior year despite
invested capital in startups and products, and platforms in the a regional player setting up the deal volume falling by almost half.
almost half the deal volume in this finance industry. first neobank in SEA here in the
period. Philippines.
2020PHILIPPINESTARTUPDEALS(Q1-Q2)
Company Industry Group Deal Value Deal Stage Investor/Buyer
Next Billion Ventures, Wavemaker Partners,
Advance Fintech undisclosed Seed Dymon Asia Ventures, and Accion
Justin Mateen, Fourth Realm, Maxime Comeau,
Avion School Education undisclosed Pre-Seed Mehrad Yaghmai
Ayannah Global Fintech undisclosed M&A Electronic Cash and Payment Solutions (ECAP)
CloudEats Restaurants/Hotel/Leisure $1,400,000 Seed undisclosed
Edukasyon.ph Education $3,370,000 Series B undisclosed
Ellana Mineral Consumer Goods & $3,370,000 Venture - Series Unknown SEAF Women’s Opportunity Fund
Cosmetics Services
Logistics, Artificial
Expedock Intelligence undisclosed Venture - Series Unknown Bain Capital Ventures, Pear, Angel Investors
Chaac Ventures, Elysium Venture Capital, Kairos

GoodWork.ph Media & Entertainment $1,600,000 Seed Society, and other undisclosed investors
Great Deals E-commerce E-Commerce $12,000,000 Private Equity Navegar
Corp
MindWorks Capital, Lalamove, and Infinity
Inteluck Logistics $5,000,000 Bridge Round Ventures
Openspace Ventures,Kickstart Ventures, Gobi Ventures,
Kumu Media & Entertainment $5,000,000 Series A Foxmont Capital Partners, and Summit Media (Philippines)
Joined Iterative Accelerator Summer 2020
TendoPay Fintech $150,000 Incubator/Accelerator program
TendoPay Fintech $150,000 Incubator/Accelerator Ventures One
Sequoia Capial, Point 72 Ventures, Insignia, and

Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. Fintech $21,000,000 Seed Credence
Uploan Fintech $10,200,000 Series A Infinity Ventures
PLDT, KKR, IFC, IFC Emerging Asia Fund, and

Voyager Innovations Inc. Fintech $120,000,000 Private Equity Tencent Holdings

INCUBATORS, CORPORATEVENTURECAPITALARMS, AND
EARLY-STAGEVENTURECAPITALFIRMSARETHEMOSTACTIVE
INTERMSOFDEALCOUNT...
From 2018 to 1H2020, early-stage is the most prevalent
form of funding, taking up 49% of deal count at 52 deals. DEAL COUNT: 14
SERIES A
After early-stage funding, incubators ascribe to 18% of deal TOTAL INVESTED: $58.6M
DEAL COUNT: 33
activity, followed by corporate venture capital at 8%. SEED
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: $6M
TOTAL INVESTED: $50.1M
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: $1M
Note that early-stage
covers Seed to Series C and
includes two additional deals DEAL COUNT: 9
disclosed as early-stage with CORPORATE
no specified investment TOTAL INVESTED:
round. The illustration $41.7M
MEDIANDEAL SIZE:
below also does not include $20.9M
certain funding deals such as
crowdfunding or grants.
DEAL COUNT: 1
SERIES C
TOTAL INVESTED: $28M
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: NOT AVAILABLE
DEAL COUNT: 5
PRIVATEEQUITY
DEAL COUNT: 2 TOTAL INVESTED: $347M
SERIES B MEDIANDEAL SIZE: $80M
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: NOT AVAILABLE
DEAL COUNT: 19
INCUBATOR/ACCELERATOR
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: $100K
DEAL COUNT: 9
PRE-SEED
MEDIANDEAL SIZE: $200K
...BUTPRIVATEEQUITYDEALSTAKEUPTHELION’SSHAREOF
STARTUPINVESTMENTSBYDEALVALUE.
In terms of startup deal value, private on-year total investment values in the by deal count and third to private equity
equity funding takes up 63% of the total Philippines vary substantially. by deal value, has shown exceptional
between 2018 to 1H2020, followed by growth. From USD 5.7 million in total value
Series A funding at 11%, and Seed funding Despite this, the Philippine startup contributed in 2018, the Seed round has
at 9%. It is interesting to note that private ecosystem continues to mature with grown to USD 20.4 million in 2019 and to
equity investments, though few and far smaller rounds, from incubator to Series USD 24.0 million in the first half of 2020.
between, contribute the bulk of invested B, contributing an increasingly larger share Seed investments went from contributing
capital because of the sheer size of each to the overall result for the period. The only 2% of total deal value in 2018 to 14%
deal value. This explains why the year- Seed round, which is the largest round in the first half of 2020.

MAKATI CITYREMAINSTHETOP
LOCALSTARTUPDESTINATION,
BUTLAGSBEHIND Baguio City: 1
NEIGHBORINGCITIESINTERMS
OFDEALVALUE
The stark majority of deal volume in
the past three years originated from
cities located in the National Capital
Region (NCR) of the country. Makati
City, the country’s prime business
district and financial hub, accounted
for 29% of total deal volume in the
country. This is closely followed by
Taguig City at 22%, then by Pasig City Bacolod City: 1
and Quezon City responsible for 10%
and 9%, respectively. Other cities Cebu City: 2
within NCR include Mandaluyong City
accounting for 7% of total deal volume,
Manila City and San Juan City each with
roughly 4%, and Muntinlupa City taking
up 1%.
The country also continues to

experience growth in startup activity
in cities outside of NCR. Davao City
accounted for 3% of total deal volume,
Davao City: 3
followed by Cebu City at 2%, and lastly
by Bacolod City and Baguio City at 1%
each.
The distribution of deal value provides a different

perspective. Mandaluyong City emerges as having the largest
amount of funds raised, accounting for more than 60% of
the country or approximately USD 335 million over the past
2.5 years, however this is primarily attributable to Voyager
Innovations Inc. which is based in said city. This is followed
by Taguig City, Parañaque City, Makati City, and Quezon City
with USD 53 million, USD 52 million, USD 45 million, and USD
14 million, respectively.
Additionally, several startups located outside of the National

Capital Region (NCR) were able to secure funding since 2018,
bringing in a total of USD 11 million. However, 97% of this
can be traced to companies based in Davao City making it the
largest startup headquarter base in terms of deal size and
volume outside of NCR for the period.

TOP20LARGESTSTARTUPTRANSACTIONS
Voyager Innovations raised the largest amount of capital in the past three years in terms of announced deal value. Its two
deals account for slightly above 50% of deal size amongst top 20 largest announced deals. While Voyager Innovations may
represent an exceptional case being a spinoff from local telco giant PLDT, it is a clear example of capital entering technology-
driven sectors. Fintech continues to be the most well-funded sector garnering nearly half of the top 20 investments.
COMPANY DEAL LAUNCH FUNDING ROUND FUNDS RAISED INDUSTRY GROUP

DATE
Voyager Innovations Inc. 10/4/2018 Private Equity $175,000,000 Fintech
Multisys 11/8/2018 Corporate $40,730,000 Software & Services
C88 Financial Technologies Pte Ltd. 7/30/2018 Series C $28,000,000 Fintech
First Circle 10/2/2018 Series A $26,000,000 Fintech
Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. 10/2/2018 Seed $21,000,000 Fintech
Great Deals E-commerce Corp 1/1/2020 Private Equity $12,000,000 E-Commerce
Incubators &
CreateLabz 9/12/2019 Seed $10,300,000
Accelerator
Black Arrow Express 7/7/2018 Series A $7,000,000 Logistics
Sprout Solutions 10/14/2019 Series A $6,000,000 HR Services
Kumu 4/14/2020 Series A $5,000,000 Media & Entertainment
Inteluck 3/31/2020 Bridge Round $5,000,000 Logistics
Black Arrow Express 12/6/2019 Undisclosed $4,000,000 Logistics
Consumer Goods &

Ellana (Cosmetics Retailer) 3/5/2020 Undisclosed $3,500,000
Services
Edukasyon.ph 2/5/2020 Series B $3,370,000 Education
Right Choice Finance 4/1/2019 Series A $2,950,000 Fintech
PayMongo 9/25/2019 Seed $2,700,000 Fintech
SendFriend 2/11/2019 Pre-Seed $1,700,000 Fintech
GoodWork.ph 5/14/2020 Seed $1,600,000 Software & Services

THEPHILIPPINESTARTUPSCENE
AMIDSTTHECOVID-19CRISIS
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the Philippine government to adopt quarantine measures since March 2020, placing limitations
on overall economic activity. As people remain in their homes and businesses prepare for a new normal, the economy has been forced
to adopt technological solutions to meet demands. These adjustments have accelerated the utilization of modern technology by the
developing country.
While the country joins the rest of the world in facing the disadvan- Cash flow challenges have led to downsizing or pivoting to leverage on
tages, it has been achieving milestones in technological awareness online platforms. Restaurants, groceries, and pharmacies, for example,
across all population age groups. For example, (1) schools have adopted have integrated the use of technological solutions to serve the shift in
non-traditional teaching platforms to educate its students and students consumer behavior. Sectors that have benefited from these changes
have sought alternative means to educate themselves, (2) traditional are e-commerce, education technology, financial technology, logistics,
large corporations that comprise the backbone of the economy now healthcare, and enterprise solutions.
understand the advantages of working remotely and more clearly
see the value of innovating standard practices, (3) MSMEs that make
up a majority of economic output were forced to rethink operational
processes, use online payment solutions to facilitate transactions, and
explore new ways to engage customers, (4) the recently-unemployed
are starting businesses and are leveraging on e-commerce platforms
and social media to gain traction, (5) the less tech-savvy government
entities recognize the need to adopt solutions for their processes, and
(6) older generations have learned to maximize the capability of social
media to keep in touch with family members. As the Philippines slowly
begins to experience a sense of normalcy, these observations suggest
that the country has managed to take another step towards technologi-
cal adoption. Source: Google COVID-19 Mobility Report The baseline is the median value, for the corresponding day
of the week, during the 5- week period Jan 3–Feb 6, 2020.
Startup founders share mixed reviews on the impact to their busi-
nesses and outlook on the future. According to a survey conducted by Negatively-impacted
PwC Philippines, it is estimated that 49% of founders are concerned startups are taking a
about how the virus impacted operations and 21% have experienced step back to reevaluate
an increase in demand from customers. In the same survey, only 4% of strategy, however, short
founders have been able to raise funds from external sources. cash runways have been
the common obstacle in
the adjustment process.
More than half of start-
ups have a cash runway
of only 6 months or less.
Source: PwC Philippines, Startups
and the Business Impact of
COVID-19
With most of the startups

low in cash reserve, 64% of
founders have expressed the
need to raise capital in the
near-term to finance working
capital requirements, improv-
ing technology, and hiring
additional employees.
Source: PwC Philippines, Startups and
the Business Impact of COVID-19
Similar to other countries, the startup ecosystem has experienced

slower venture capital investing activity as investors cautiously navigate
the new environment and shift focus from seeking deals to assisting
Source: PwC Philippines, Startups and the Business Impact of COVID-19
portfolio companies.

STARTUPSADJUSTINGWELLTO
THENEWNORMAL
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt geopolitics, global supply chains, and the
world economy, devastating many companies as the market braced for a seemingly
inevitable recession. With restricted business operations and major areas placed in
quarantine, a company’s success is hinged upon its ability to adapt to the rapid changes
in market demand, sentiment, and the overall environment.
The following Philippine companies not only adjusted effectively, but were also able to
utilize the current situation to advance their businesses:
Sprout Solutions had just closed their Series A round in December 2019. Before
news of the strange pneumonia-like illness began spreading in China, this
homegrown startup was already championing the needs of small businesses by
making their payroll SaaS entirely free for businesses under 50 employees. When
the pandemic hit, they also launched a HR Rescue Kit including free services such
as timekeeping, payroll, leave requests, 201-file management, digital activations,
and access to legal expert webinars. They are deserving of their nomination as
Best Technology Company in this year’s Asia Ceo Awards.
With public health risks preventing citizens from going out to buy food supplies
from groceries, Metromart was able to seize this opportunity in order to provide
the market with their services by partnering with multiple grocery brands such
as S&R, Rustan’s, and Robinson’s Supermarket, and thus allowing users to access
their online grocery store and have supplies delivered directly to the customers’
home. Online food purchases are seen to boost Philippine food retail sales to
$60B primarily due to Covid-19, according to the Global Agricultural Information
Network.
MyKuya is an on-demand services application that allows users to hire people for
errands, odd jobs and other services. The Covid-19 environment has shifted focus
to web-based platforms such as MyKuya, and are allowing people to see the value
in these tech platforms. Amidst the pandemic, MyKuya began their expansion
into other provinces in the Philippines such as Cavite, Pangasinan, Quezon, and
Zambales. Startups expanding outside the Metro is a welcome development and
will see the creation of employment opportunities across the country.
The pandemic exposed many vulnerabilities in the economy, especially the surplus
of support that needs to be poured into the healthcare and medtech sector. AIDE
is a home healthcare platform that has been around since 2016, which provides
users with online medical consultation using its large pool of medical professionals
as a solution to the inefficient and time-consuming processes present in hospitals
and clinics. In order to adapt to the sudden influx of medical needs due to
Covid-19, AIDE allowed users to obtain Covid antibody and PCR tests straight
to their homes using the AIDE mobile app. The company was able to secure an
undisclosed investment amount from Ayala Healthcare Holdings in 2018 and is
now a member of AC Health’s healthtech portfolio.

FINTECHCONTINUESTO
DRIVETRANSACTIONVALUES
Fintech startup investments comprised 80% of the Philippine total in the past two and half years. The space has
attracted both homegrown and regional startup companies with founders betting on the growth of Philippine
financial inclusion and digitized financial services.
Investments into Tencent-backed Voyager Innovations

bolstered sector share of investments to reach above 80%
in 2018 and 1H2020. This is attributable to the Tencent
and Alibaba proxy war that continues to be waged, and is
accelerating digital payment adoption in the Philippines.
According to KapronAsia, Alibaba-backed GCash saw
payments made on its platform rise 700% year-on-year in
May, and they plawn to partner with government to install
scan-to-pay systems in taxis. Meanwhile, rival PayMaya is
partnering with Makati Medical Center for telemedicine,
and also the city of Manila to enable QR code payments at
stalls near Manila City Hall and the bargain shopping area,
Divisoria.
88%
FINTECH
The exhibits above do not include M&A and buyout transactions
THEPHILIPPINEFINTECHINDUSTRYISGAININGGLOBAL
ATTENTIONFORITSREMARKABLEGROWTH
In 2019, Startup Genome named Manila as one of the world’s friendliest
cities for fintech startups, owing to the city’s strong English language “We strongly believe that this is a pivotal moment
skills and well-established outsourcing industries. The Global Startup for us to become more relevant and competitive
Ecosystem Report 2020 forecasts fintech’s transaction value to increase
by 24% in 2020, accounting for the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
in the global marketplace. DTI has always been
Moreover, Findexable, in its Global Fintech Index 2020, places the supportive of the growing fintech industry because
Philippines at rank 46 globally in terms of Fintech Country Rankings, 8 of its massive potential for financial inclusivity for
places above its Global Startup rank. our people. With all the work and tech innovation
According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the number of building up in the country in recent years, we are
fintech startups is growing at an average rate of 16% annually. As of early ready to expand our horizons.”
2020, the Philippines is home to 136 fintech startups, comprising 26%
of the startups in the country. 29% of fintech startups are in alternative From Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary,
finances, while 22% are in payments, 19% are in blockchain technologies, Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba Source: fintechnews.sg
and the remaining 30% are involved in remittances, investments and
crowdfunding.

Fintech is expected to grow substantially in the coming years. 47% of Organizations such as the Fintech Philippines Association and Fintech
respondents in the 2020 Philippine Startup Survey reported that they Alliance Philippines have also been actively promoting innovation and
have funded local fintech startups. In 2019, the Philippines ranked 5th collaboration within the fintech community. Along with milestone
worldwide in promoting financial inclusion, based on the Economist successes such as Coins.ph being awarded Southeast Asia’s leading
Intelligence Unit’s Global Microscope 2019 study. The aim of financial blockchain-enabled platform or PayMongo raising one of the largest
inclusion continues to assure strong government support and initiatives seed rounds in the country in 2019, and the recent USD 175 million
that propel growth of the fintech industry. The Bangko Sentral ng investment into Paymaya Philippines through parent company
Pilipinas (BSP) has identified digital payments as a priority in its policies, Voyager Innovations, the fintech industry continues to lead the startup
and has targeted digital payments to comprise 20% of total payment ecosystem to a brighter future.
systems by 2020. Government support is also apparent in the Philippine
Bureau of the Treasury’s partnership with Union Bank of the Philippines, Finally, the entry of neobanks such as TONIK financial show that fintech
and Philippine Digital Asset Exchange, a local startup, to launch a solutions are growing from simple payments to more comprehensive
distribution of retail treasury bonds on the blockchain. The digital services such as digital banking. Neobanks are setting their sights in the
payments annual growth rate is estimated at 27-30% compared to an Philippines because of the opportunity to tap the 77% of Filipinos who
average of 25% among other emerging Asian nations. remain unbanked.
LARGESTFINTECHDEALS
2018 2019 1H2020
INVESTINGACTIVITYHASBECOMELESSCONCENTRATEDACROSSDIFFERENT
STARTUPSECTORSOVERTHEPASTTHREEYEARSASWELL...
IN2018, FINTECH,INFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY,ANDTRANSPORTANDLOGISTICSCOMPRISED99%OFTHETOTALINVESTMENTAMOUNTSIN
PHILIPPINESTARTUPSMAKINGUP83%,13%,AND3%RESPECTIVELY. SINCETHEN,GROWTHCAPITALHASENTEREDINTOOTHERSECTORS
INCLUDINGTHOSEINCREASINGINPOPULARITYSUCHASMEDICALANDHEALTHCARE.
ACTIVESECTORSAFTERFINTECH SECTORSONTHEWATCHLIST OTHERINTERESTINGSECTORS
INFORMATION TRANSPORT E-COMMERCE EDUCATION MEDICAL AND

TECHNOLOGY AND AND TECHNOLOGY HEALTHCARE
SOFTWARE LOGISTICS

CORPORATEVENTUREDRIVESINVESTMENT
INITANDSOFTWARE
INFORMATION IT and Software garnered USD 44.5 million or 8% of total

fundraising deal value since 2018. Most of the activity in
TECHNOLOGY this sector relates to telecommunications and business-to-

business software development. The largest IT investment in
&SOFTWARE
the past three years is a USD 40.7 million minority interest
of telecommunications corporation, PLDT, into Multisys
Technologies.
The last few years has seen the rise in the number of startups in and developments in the IT-BPO and Software sectors include the
these sectors. PLDT’s investment into Multisys is a welcome sight of emergence of more tech startups, with the BPO sector opening up to
corporates adopting the technologies which startups continue to build. Philippine startups, as well as the increased adoption of a virtualized
With the country’s tech evolution keeping its momentum, information- environment and cloud-based data.
based products and services are gaining traction in the markets. Many
notable startups in these industries are engaged in enterprise services, The COVID-19 pandemic is also seen as the needed push for the
with the successes of the likes of Kalibrr, Sprout Solutions, Senti, ecosystem to increase digitization efforts. With quarantine restrictions
Inteluck and Social Light heralding the entry of new players introducing in place, businesses and consumers are more inclined to use online
innovative software solutions for Filipino consumers and businesses. platforms and move away from traditional norms. This has also
increased the willingness to adopt digital solutions offered by startups in
According to Ken Research Private Limited’s Philippines IT Industry the IT and SaaS sectors. Digitalization is also seen as a crucial part of the
report published in 2019, these industries have displayed tremendous economy’s post-COVID recovery, with the need for enterprise solutions
growth due to the increase in foreign direct investments and and platforms extending not only to large conglomerates but also to
increasing employment opportunities for Filipinos. Leading trends SMEs.
NOTABLEDEALSINTHEPAST3YEARS

TRANSPORT&LOGISTICSINFRASTRUCTURES
CONTINUETOBEREFINEDINTHEAGEOF
CONVENIENCE
TRANSPORT This sector contributed $18.5M or 3% of the Philippine deal value

since 2018. Investment activity in this sector primarily relates to
&LOGISTICS
the expansion of transport solutions to address urban traffic or the
rise of e-commerce and other parcel delivery services.
Various sectors such as healthcare and retail heavily depend on logistics with recent limitations in mobility due to the COVID-19 pandemic,
services. The expanding population and the archipelagic landscape of ride-hailing and transportation took a large hit in 2020, seeing a 34%
the Philippines drive demand for an efficient delivery and transport revenue decrease from the previous year dropping to USD 571 million
system. With consumer spending expected to increase in the coming from USD 769 million in 2019.
years, these sectors are expected to benefit along with the logistics
industry. Logistics companies continue to invest in technological On the other hand, the logistics sector has been positively impacted
solutions to keep up with retail sector growth, especially in terms of by the pandemic together with the rapid surge of the e-commerce
e-commerce. Forecasted revenues for logistics and warehousing is industry. Due to strict social distancing protocols, a great number of
expected to reach Php 1.1 trillion by 2024. Filipinos have switched to shopping online and having their goods
shipped to their own homes. Dominant names in the logistics industry
Although the entry of ride-hailing companies was not easy due to the include long-established companies 2Go and LBC, but regional players
lack of regulatory frameworks and policies, it has recently been one such as NinjaVan, Transportify, LalaMove and Grab have increasingly
of the most optimistic markets in the country. Revenues from the gained traction in recent years as the express delivery market
Philippine ride hailing and taxi market is expected to have an annual experiences promising growth, anticipating a 9% CAGR from 2018
CAGR of 17% from 2020 to 2024, reaching USD 1.1 billion by the end of to 2023, or a value of PHP 68.2 billion by 2023. Local startups such
2024. Since Grab’s acquisition of Uber in 2018, the former remains the as Angkas, Mober, Payo and Last Mile are also poised to find greater
top market player in the industry, but there have been new entrants relevance in the space as the demand for Third Party Logistics (3PL)
accredited by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory services continues to boom, expecting to achieve a revenue share of
Board, such as Go Lag, ePickMeUp, Snappy, and MiCab. This sets 40% in the overall Philippine Logistics and Warehousing market by 2024.
the stage for increased competition in the next few years; however,

PHE-COMMERCESHOWSINDICATIONS
OFPROMISINGGROWTH
Startup investments in online retail closely follow the top three
E-COMMERCE sectors in terms of deal activity. The sector has grown to $12.4M
in disclosed deal value for the period between 2018 to 1H2020,
covering 2% of the total.
The size of the gross merchandise value (GMV) of the Philippine which include more well-known retailers like Unilever, driving demand
e-commerce market was valued at $3 billion in 2019 and is expected for online transactions. Zalora’s expansion strategy includes building
to hit $12 billion by 2025. This is attributed to the emergence of a a 3.7 hectare e-fulfillment center, the largest in the country. Well-
tech-savvy population and the burgeoning of the Filipino middle class. known retailers such as SM and Watsons have now launched in-house
The ability of e-commerce platforms to allow users to compare prices E-commerce platforms.
captures the price-sensitive consumer. This demographic and consumer
behavior, together with the increased support from the government, Notable funding deals include Private Equity firm Navegar’s investment
fuels the development and expansion of the e-commerce industry. into Great Deals, an e-commerce enabler, which drove investments into
The Philippine E-Commerce Roadmap established by DTI in 2016 aims the sector in 1H2020. This represents a sizeable bet on the growing
for e-commerce to account for 40% to 50% of the country’s GDP by needs of online merchants for the full array of IT, infrastructure,
2022. The DTI is honing in on speed, security, and structure to be warehouse capabilities and technology solutions. MyKuya’s expansion
able to effectively integrate e-commerce in the country. For 2022, the outside of Luzon is made possible by their seed round from Infinity
program will prioritize improving market accessibility, creating updated Ventures. Their performance reveals that the on-demand services
government policies and regulations such as e-marketplace protection,
startup is capitalizing on growing demand for odd jobs and services
and modernizing infrastructure.
during the pandemic. Compared to its competitors, coupon aggregator
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate e-commerce in the MetroDeal has performed well despite lifestyle and leisure activities
country. With lockdown measures immobilizing consumers, digital taking a hit. Booky, a local discovery platform, also shows firmness in its
payments and digital shopping become more of a norm. As of May plans to pivot as restaurants close down.
2020, 41% of respondents of a survey conducted by Rakuten Insights
stated that they purchased more online during the pandemic. Top buys Apart from the more standard E-commerce business models, a
of Filipinos are food and groceries, personal hygiene products, and number of startups begin to explore social commerce models, vying
house cleaning goods. Specialty e-commerce platforms such as Poundit for dominance as the new normal shifts consumer behavior and
for tech and Metromart for food and groceries have flourished as the commerce as a whole. Moreover, startups who have recently hit
country is placed in and out of lockdown measures. their targets earlier than expected due to COVID, continue to explore
possible e-commerce opportunities in their existing business models.
Established e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada continue to Live-streaming app KUMU now offers MSMEs a way to advertise, and
introduce new features locally such as Lazmall and Shopee Mall sections viewers a way to make purchases of advertised products.

EDTECHISEXPECTEDTOGROW
ASSTARTUPSFILLINLEARNINGGAPS
DURINGQUARANTINE
EDUCATION Edtech is seeing astronomical growth in announced deal sizes,

from USD 70.0 thousand in 2018 to USD 3.4 million in 2020.
TECHNOLOGY
Invested capital in this sector is highly attributed to capital raised
by Edukasyon PH.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the country’s adoption of in this field include PhilSmile, KITE e-Learning solutions, and JackenPoy.
education technology as schools are forced to abruptly shift to online
learning in accordance with health protocols that do not accommodate Aside from providing online learning tools during quarantine, the
the typical classroom setup. As the current crisis poses challenges to education sector continues to face other problems that EdTech
traditional face-to-face learning, EdTech start-ups are looking to fill in startups have been trying to address including the high dropout rate in
the gaps with technology and will inevitably play a key role in ensuring higher education as a result of increasing tuition fees, and the skills-
students’ learning continuity. job mismatch with the lack of course offerings that would meet the
increasing employment demand for modern industries like data science
In a global report by Ambient Insight, the Philippines was ranked and software engineering. Among the current local start-ups trying to
7th in the world when it comes to anticipated growth in e-learning fill these gaps are Edukasyon.ph, InvestED, Eskwelabs, and Avion School.
revenues for the decade. This can be attributed to the large population
of the country, with the majority belonging to the younger age groups Although the potential market is massive, the EdTech sector remains
that are still in school or about to enter the workforce. In 2019, the underinvested. The relatively low investment in EdTech compared
Department of Education had an estimate of 27.2 million students in to Fintech or Enterprise Solutions startups is attributed to the small
basic education. With schools implementing distance learning for the number of startups entering this market. However, with the rise of new
upcoming school year, learning management systems startups and tech problems in education in the country and the interest in alternative
suppliers are expected to be positively impacted. Notable local players learning solutions sparked by COVID-19, EdTech in the Philippines is
beginning to spark interest.

HEALTHCARESHOWSIMPROVEMENT
INTHEADOPTIONOFMODERNSTARTUP
TECHNOLOGY
MEDICAL& The medical and healthcare industry is considered one of the

most promising sectors by investors as it solves one of the
HEALTHCARE
country’s biggest problems – the lack of access to healthcare
facilities.
Investors have shown strong interest in the medical and healthcare 2020 is to provide widespread access to health services and health
industry as it shows promise in the coming years. According to the information in order to establish quality healthcare and a responsive
2020 Philippine Startup Survey, the health industry is considered one health system for Filipinos. State authorities, if joined in a collaborative
of the top three priority sectors of investors. In 2018, The Ayala group effort with the private healthcare sector, could effectively deliver on
has invested in AIDE, a medical and healthcare startup, through its these promised initiatives.
subsidiary, AC Health.
Despite the passing of new laws and bills, the nation has experienced
Early in 2019, the Universal Healthcare Bill was signed into law and very limited access to healthcare especially during the pandemic.
the National eHealth System and Services Act was approved by the The demand for healthcare is now exponentially rising due to the
Committee on Health. The enrollment of all Filipino citizens into increase of Covid patients while those who need treatment and
the National Health Insurance Program and the expansion of the assistance for other medical issues are hesitant to leave their homes
Philhealth coverage are some of the agendas covered by the UHC for treatment. Healthtech startups are emerging to provide solutions
Act. The proposed eHealth Act aims to deliver healthcare services to Filipinos, filling the generally untapped market for efficient, flexible,
through cost-effective and secure information and communication and accessible healthcare for Filipinos. Recent healthcare startups,
technology. Two pressing issues in today’s healthcare system are the which include MedGrocer, Medifi, and Lifetrack Medical Systems, have
lack of access to healthcare services and real-time information for been successfully shifting the traditional focus from real estate-based
decision-making. Currently, only 13% of healthcare providers and 40% investments in the sector such as strategically located hospitals and
of tertiary hospitals are located in rural areas. The goal of eHealth by clinics to technologically driven healthcare innovations.

SELECTVENTURECAPITALPLAYERSINTHEECOSYSTEM OTHER
PLAYERS
FUTURENOWVENTURES FOXMONTCAPITALPARTNERS CORECAPITAL
FNV is a boutique investment FCP is a multi-focus venture capital Core Capital, a Philippine venture
firm composed of technology firm dedicated to investing in early- capital firm, has partnered with top
and investment practitioners and stage Philippine startup companies. Asian VC Gobi Partners to launch the
entrepreneurs who invest in fast The backbone of FCP’s philosophy, Gobi Core Philippine Fund, a USD 10
growth companies developing cloud, “Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs”, million fund focusing on e-commerce,
mobile and enterprise technological stems from the belief that more SaaS, healthtech, and logistics startups
services based in Asia, the US, and value can be created by taking a in the seed to pre-series A stages in the
Australia. wholistic, “entrepreneurial” approach Philippines. The fund plans to expand
in supporting its portfolio companies into the travel, entertainment and
PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: apart from investing capital alone. retail tech sectors in the future.
CloudSwyft, My-Checkpoints,
Recruitday.com, Ambidextr, AutoDeal, PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES:
Booky, FlySpaces, Salarium, Kalibrr, Kumu, Booky, Edukasyon.ph, Bounce Edukasyon.ph, Maria Health
Shirt.ly https://foxmontcapital.com/ https://www.corevc.ph/
https://www.futurenow.ventures/
CORPORATEVENTURECAPITALFUNDS
KICKSTARTVENTURES UBX JGDIGITALEQUITYVENTURES

Kickstart Ventures is a subsidiary of The most visible and recent VC JG DEV is the corporate venture
Globe Telecom and funds early-stage involvement of the Aboitiz Group capital arm of JG Summit Holdings,
to growth-stage tech startups across has been through the UBX unit of Inc. The USD 50 million fund aims to
the globe. It currently manages its UnionBank. UBX prides itself as the invest in startups in the ASEAN region.
third and largest fund to date, Ayala digital-enablement vector of Philippine Its focus areas include data, financial
Corporation’s USD 150 million ACTIVE businesses and the bank account access services, consumer lifestyle, new
fund. vector of Philippine startups, with a media, logistics and digital health.
focus on e-commerce..
PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES:
Coins.ph (exited), Entrego, Kalibrr, PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: Cashalo, Growsari
Spiralytics, Medix, Aiah, MyLegalWhiz, DragonPay, XLOG, Finscore, PDAX https://www.jgdev.ph/
Sprout Solutions, Squadzip, Kumu, AVA,
Zap, BagoSphere, ZipMatch https://ubx.ph/
https://www.kickstart.ph/
REGIONALVCSWITHPHILIPPINEINVESTMENTS
WAVEMAKERPARTNERS GOLDENGATEVENTURES SPIRALVENTURESASIA

Wavemaker Partners is Southeast Asia’s GGV focuses on internet and mobile SVA is Spiral Ventures’ USD 5
leading early-stage venture capital firm startups across many sectors including million Southeast Asia and India-
focusing on enterprise and deep tech e-commerce, payments, marketplaces, focused fund. In Southeast Asia,
companies. It closed its third SEA fund mobile applications and SaaS platforms. the fund invests in early and
at USD 111 million in July 2020. Its latest fund, Golden Gate Ventures growth stage startups with flexible
x Hanwha Growth Fund 1, raised USD sector focus.
PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: 200 million to invest in Southeast Asian
Coins.ph (Exited), Aiah, Sprout Series B stage startups. PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES:
Solutions, Spiralytics, Zap Group, ZipMatch, Ayannah, Kalibrr, First
Stylist in Pocket, Bridge Southeast Asia, PHPORTFOLIOCOMPANIES: Circle, PawnHero
Doxcheck, GrowSari, Kalibrr, Maria Carousell, MoneySmart, Ayannah, https://spiral-ventures.com/asia
Health Lenddo
https://wavemaker.vc/ https://goldengate.vc/

WHAT’SNEWINOURECOSYSTEM
KEYINDUSTRYNEWSANDDEVELOPMENTS
LAUNCHOFTHEVENTURECAPITALAND PHILIPPINESTARTUPWEEK2019
PRIVATEEQUITYASSOCIATION The Department of Science and
Early last 2019, an overarching investment industry association called the Technology (DOST), the Department of
Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (VCAP), was established. Trade and Industry (DTI), and the Department of Information and
It was founded by two of the largest Philippine venture capital firms Communications Technology (DICT), together with QBO Innovation
Kickstart Ventures and ICCP SBI Venture Partners, and private equity firm Hub, collaborated with the Philippine startup community for the very
Navegar, as well as non-profit corporation Endeavor Philippines. The main first Philippine Startup Week which was held from November 18 to 22
objective of the organization is to provide an overall representation of of 2019. The theme of the weeklong collaboration was “Showcasing
institutional and professional investors in the country and to strengthen the Filipino Startup Community to the World” as it celebrated the
the Philippine VC and PE market by fostering the growth of innovation growth and recognized the future of the Philippine startup scene,
and entrepreneurship, and thus also encouraging foreign investments serving as a testament of the great potential of Filipino startups. The
into the country. According to Endeavor’s managing director Manny first PHSW saw the showcase of 100 startups in over 50 nationwide
Ayala, similar associations to VCAP have already had a “multiplier effect” community events across 7 cities in the country.
on VC and PE investment activity in other markets. VCAP is currently
open for applications from all VCs and PEs that are interested to join the One of the events was a showcase of the 15 chosen startups from
association. the first batch of the DOST PCIEERD Startup Research Grant Program
which was established in 2017. The idea behind the program was to
jumpstart the development of existing startups and aid them with
support throughout their growth. With a total capital of Php 64
PHILIPPINESTARTUPDEVELOPMENTPROGRAM THEREVISED million, the program was able to help these startups scale and raise
CORPORATIONCODE Php 35 million of investments plus generate Php 77 million revenues
Last April 2019, the Innovative Startup Act (RA NOWALLOWSFORONE (as of Nov 2019).
11337) was signed into law in order to promote
PERSONCORPORATIONS.
February 2019
and develop the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the
Philippines. The Philippine Startup Development THEPHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENTPARTNERS
Program (PSDP) is spearheaded by the DOST, INNOVATIONACT(RA
DICT, and DTI. Together, these entities provide 11293) ENCOURAGES
a startup grant fund to aid startups and startup MSMESTOINNOVATE
enablers. They are also working with the Board of INTONEWSTARTUPS.
Investments (BOI) to create a Startup Investment April 2019
Development Plan (SIDP) that will be aimed towards
providing incentives for current and prospective COMPREHENSIVE
startup investors. Other beneficial incentives TAXREFORM
included in the PSDP are simplified business PROGRAMWIDENS
procedures and coverage of business registration TAXDEDUCTIBLESFOR
fees and other such costs related to applications PURPOSESSUCHAS
for required permits and certificates, capital grants, THEDEVELOPMENTOF
and special startup visas for foreigners looking to STARTUPS.
September 2019
invest in and support the Philippine startup sector. Partners
NEWSTARTUPSANDVENTURECAPITALPLAYERS
STARTUPSANDVCPLAYERSBIRTHED, ORBEGINNINGPHOPERATIONSIN2020
Avion School is AGILE Pickaroo, which aims
a local ed-tech Digital to be the premium all-
startup started Ventures, in-one lifestyle delivery
by Victor Rivera TONIK bank is founded by app in the PH, having
seasoned fintech startup Inc.
and John is Philippine property developer recognized that consumers are
Young. They’re taking on the Founder Greg Krasnov. TONIK willing to pay a premium on
aims to transform traditional Megaworld’s newly launched
Philippine education system by venture arm that will invest in safety amidst the pandemic.
providing Filipinos an avenue to banking by launching the This is an acute observation
first digital-only bank in startups in the food, retail and
learn software engineering, only hospitality industries. from former managing director
requiring payment upon landing Southeast Asia, starting with of Honestbee, Crystal Gonzales,
a job after their 12-week course. the Philippines’ existing bank now the co-founder and COO of
customers and the 77% of The initial USD 5 million
allocation was invested in Pickaroo and board member at
Filipinos who remain unbanked. Agile Digital Ventures.

DRAPER STARTUP
HOUSE
Bringing a Silicon Valley Ecosystem to Manila
Our mission at Draper Startup House is to enable ONE MILLION
entrepreneurs by 2030, disrupting hospitality by inventing a new
category of entrepreneurial tourism and creating true value through
their ecosystem of support for entrepreneurs. Through the use of real
human connection, inspired business travel, a diverse-minded
community and access to global citizens - the community members
of Draper Startup House are able to connect to new opportunities,
inspire one another to innovate and execute, and empower one
another to GO BIG, pay it forward, and drive progress.
CRISTIAN VIKRAM TIM DRAPER

FOUNDER, FOUNDER,
PHILIPPINES INTERNATIONAL
THE CORE OF THE DRAPER ECOSYSTEM

IntheFoxholewithFoxmont Capital’s
ManagingPartner
“That’s what I love about startups. They set out to solve one problem, and
then later on realize that they are able to solve many more.”
Can you explain why Foxmont invests exclusively What does the Philippine startup ecosystem need
in Filipino founders and Philippine-based most?
startups? Our fund’s philosophy is being a fund for
We’re a Philippine-focused fund because there’s entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs. We partners also
a lack of capital access in the early stage of funds have our own entrepreneurial experiences in the
here. With local PE firms and foreign VC firms, Philippines and we want to share our knowledge
their minimum bite sizes are too large, and their in this relatively challenging environment. We
goals are too big for simple “friends and family” wish to infuse founders with as much of our
startups. We want the firm to be inclusive enough relationships and expertise as possible so that
to accept all kinds of Filipino businesses, be it in they are prepared for the later stages. We don’t
tech or otherwise. just want to dump capital and tell our investee
companies to succeed. The value of having a local
What industries are you excited about? VC on board is that we understand first-hand the
Franco Varona Any challenges that Filipinos face and any solution entrepreneurial challenges in the Philippines.
Managing Partner to those are what excite me. For example, Fintech
Foxmont Capital Partners is an industry whose importance we’ve all learned What has changed in the entrepreneurial
during lockdown in the Philippines. landscape that gave sense to starting a venture
capital fund?
Franco is the Managing Partner I took the role of GM for Grab because I wanted Entrepreneurship entails understanding the
of Foxmont Capital Partners. to help solve Manila traffic starting with taxi driver situation around you, seeing the available
Franco guides his investee behavior. In 2012, you never knew what you were opportunities, understanding the risks, and seeing
companies and their founders in getting into entering a taxi. I’d like to think that what potential value your business can bring to
tackling the unique business and maybe Grab helped a little bit! [laughs] your local community and the world at large.
operational challenges present in
the Philippines. Franco is also a You merely have to look at our growing portfolio In my own experience, it was my openness in
Co-Founder and Director of Global to see that companies we invest in —Booky, understanding the world around me that helped
Media Post Ltd. (HK), a boutique Bounce, Edukasyon, and KUMU— are those that me most as an entrepreneur. In 2012, public
media agency specializing in recognize, and set out to solve inherently Filipino transportation was untrustworthy. Six years later,
promotional country reports. problems. I saw it was timelier to start Foxmont. I recognized
Prior to Foxmont, Franco led Grab that there was an inflection point where brain
Philippines as General Manager KUMU, for instance, addresses how Filipinos are drain was reversing. We were getting a lot of
from 2012-2014. losing entertainment. Inadvertently, they’ve even Filipino Americans and expats bringing home
given homesick OFWs an avenue to experience know-how from abroad. The businesses these
authentic Filipino community. guys have been building became motivation for
fresh grads and young professionals who see that
That’s what I love about startups. They set out to businesses here can succeed, that you don’t need
solve one problem, and then later on realize that to work abroad, and that you can take a risk here.
they’re able to solve many more.
Foxmont Capital Partners is a venture capital fund “for entrepreneurs by

entrepreneurs” dedicated to supporting Philippine startups with capital, expertise,
and network through the different stages of growth.
foxmontcapital.com

BuildingtheCountry’s
Fastest-GrowingSocial App
“There are three key things that make a startup ecosystem fertile: inter-
net, affordable smartphones, and a young population.”
Q: How did Kumu start? Q: What do you think are the qualities that an
Roland: Back then, Ambassador Cuisia asked me entrepreneur should possess in order to be suc-
“Instead of doing non-profit work, why won’t you cessful especially in the Philippine setting? Roland Ros
actually do business in the Philippines?” That’s Rexy: It’s important that entrepreneurs do what CEO and Co-Founder
when I contacted Rexy and began recruiting our they are able to do without compromising their Kumu
team. He and I put on our Nick Fury patch and work. A lot of them say, “Okay so here’s the big
searched for our Avengers. After forming the vision and this is what I want to do” but they real- Roland is the CEO and Co-Founder of
team, we moved to the Philippines to start Kumu. ize that they can’t get funding fast enough so they Kumu. Among his other initiatives are
end up doing side gigs that detract their focus driving millions of customers to clients
Observing the market, we saw all these entrepre-
from growing the business. that include Uber and Mastercard and
neurs from Vietnam and Indonesia creating apps
that prioritized their own people’s voices. I asked If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, you co-founding another startup, Track-
myself “Why can’t I do this for the Filipinos?” should push relentlessly for what you know needs ing202. Throughout the years, Roland
to happen. Also, you’re dead if you don’t have has been involved in different human-
In February 2018, we launched Kumu but back some kind of backup for tough times. Always keep itarian and environmental non-profit
then it was just like a Filipino Viber. We learned the lights on. organizations.
that you have to leave enough room for the
community to define what your app is. We noticed Roland: It’s important to manage what’s happen-
that the users enjoyed and used the livestreaming between your ears. You have to be mentally
ing function of the app a lot so six months later prepared. There’s a huge psychological price in
we decided to pivot and relaunch Kumu as a live building something and always hearing “No. No.
streaming app and the rest is history. No.” What I do every morning is I wake up with
gratitude, say a prayer, and do 50 push ups. Clarity
Q: What is the entrepreneurial landscape like in is important for you to be in a strong headspace.
the Philippines? Finally, you also have to have a strong support
Roland: There are three key things that make a system.
startup ecosystem fertile: internet, affordable Q: How has VC helped Kumu?
smartphones, and a young population. You’ve got Roland: In our experience, local VCs tend to be
those three things present in the Philippines, but more like strategic investors.
you also have 11 million people overseas sending Rexy Dorado
billions back home. Local VCs know how to execute in the local scene. President and Co-Founder
For example, Franco from Foxmont was able to Kumu
You have to recognize where the waves are hitting. help us from the operations standpoint with his
In Southeast Asia you have hundreds of millions of experiences from Grab. Summit Media helped us
people joining the middle class. And just captur- Rexy serves as the President and
in advertising and promotions by teaching us how Co-Founder of Kumu. He also founded
ing a small percentage of that digital GDP growth to utilize content.
could result in massive business opportunities. Kaya Collaborative, a Filipino youth dias-
pora engagement program that aims to
You could hit two birds with one stone. One, you spur social change in their home country.
can help the country and two, it could be the Through his work with Ashoka and En-
biggest business opportunity of your life. deavor, Rexy is able to support and advise
various high-impact entrepreneurs.
Kumu is a pinoy live-streaming app that hones authentic connections built by authentic
communities. It is a platform that prioritizes creating a safe atmosphere that embraces all types
of individuals, topics, and talents. With this environment, livestreamers are able to create real
and raw content that are enjoyed by viewers. In return, viewers give the live streamers virtual
gifts which sparks authentic connections. Kumu also has other functions like e-commerce and
live game shows. Currently, Kumu is the fastest growing social app in the Philippines.
Kumu.ph

FromTaxi HailingTo
Monumental Super App
“We now have a layer of instant infrastructure for new startups to use to their advantage.
That’s something that will be interesting over the next few years.”
Q: What are the challenges in growing a startup We were lucky to have diversified into other
company in the country? verticals last year. Since then, we doubled down
The initial challenge is about whether there is a on GrabFood and started building up our delivery
market for the product or not. In the Philippines, service, which has been keeping us afloat during
I’ve observed that the demand curve flattens fairly the pandemic.
quickly. Once you get to a few thousand users, you
have to spend millions again to get to that next Q: What’s next for Grab PH?
level of demand. Even now with GrabFood, you Mart is a vertical we launched during the
need earth-shattering events like a pandemic to lockdown. We’re focusing our efforts on products
drive up your numbers or you need revolutionary like Food, Mart and Express, while Transport is still
products and ideas for you to achieve that goal. on the low end of the recovery spectrum. What
It’s not about access to payments or logistics, it’s Grab has built is a platform for instant fulfilment.
all there. It’s about the inertia of the customers Imagine if this lockdown happened 7 years ago
Brian Cu to adapt to a product. In terms of operations, when instant delivery services, e-wallets and
Former President of Grab it’s all about process, control, and being able to online banking weren’t big yet. Similar to how
PH and Former Managing prioritize. Amazon has built a layer of cloud infrastructure
Director of Zalora in the last 10 years for businesses to utilize, the
Q: What is your view on the current state of the Philippines is experiencing the same today. We
Brain is the former Country Philippine startup industry? now have a layer of instant infrastructure for
Head of Grab Philippines. new startups to use to their advantage. That’s
He started his career in I believe that startups need to build on the
something that will be interesting over the next
management consulting with backs of industry giants and existing platforms.
few years.
the Boston Consulting Group For example, Zalora was built on the back of
in 2010. Alongside this role, he large logistics players like LBC, until they started
dove into the world of startups doing their own logistics. It was built on top of Q: What does the Philippines need to further
when he served as Co-Founder advertising platforms like Facebook and Google. improve its startup ecosystem?
and CFO of Go-Jek indonesia. Platforms exist for things like marketing and I am in favour of welcoming new businesses with
In 2012, he co-founded Zalora payments. The question is: how do you utilize more regulatory support, given that the first
Philippines, the country’s them to your full advantage and do you have the layer of infrastructure has been established. We
largest online fashion retailer. money to utilize them? can take a more active approach by providing
He left in mid-2013 to co-found incentives, encouraging startups to set up
Grab Philippines. headquarters here, and investing in human capital.
Q: How has Grab Ph been adapting to the Covid
situation? What are the new opportunities or
challenges brought about by the new normal?
Grab is Southeast Asia’s largest mobile technology company that connects millions of
consumers to millions of drivers, merchants, and businesses. The company offers a range
of services, including transport, on-demand delivery, consumer and financial services on a
single platform. Grab is taking on the largest problems that affect the region, including access
inequality, outdated infrastructure, and income disparity. It is the region’s first “decacorn” (a
startup with a valuation of over US$10 billion), with a valuation of $14 billion as of 2019.
Grab.ph

BuildingtheHighway
for Payments
“The e-commerce ecosystem in the US did not improve overnight,
and our country is on that same path.”
Q: What was the original idea behind PayMongo? Q: What is your vision for the company in the
I was a freshman in MIT when the founders of coming years? Francis Plaza
Stripe, who were seniors at my school, created For me, I don’t want to build just another payment CEO and Co-Founder
their startup. Throughout the years, we saw how gateway system. I want to build a platform that PayMongo
it started taking over online payments and this will allow everyone to use payments as a catalyst
served as an inspiration for our own business. for growth. Francis is the CEO and Co-Found-
er of PayMongo. Francis graduat-
I knew that the Philippines was ripe for something Payments are at the heart of commerce. We want ed from Massachusetts Institute
similar. So in March of 2019, we just started to build better and more inclusive infrastructure. of Technology and with his back-
coding. We had no concept and product yet, but Our vision is to build a highway that any car can ground in software engineering,
we had 800 customers signing up for the waitlist. pass through. he has worked in Oracle and
This signaled the value of what we were trying to Impraise. In the summer of 2019,
bring to the market. A secure, easily accessible Q: What is your view of the Philippine Fintech he and his team were accepted
online payments channel was a service needed by landscape? into Y-Combinator.
all kinds of people, from multinationals to regular The Philippines is the second largest country in
individual sellers who just wanted to conduct the region and is a service-based economy. The
business online. majority of our population is young and speaks
English. On top of that, we are strategically located
Q: What are the challenges you encountered on the globe and well-connected to the West.
in founding and growing a startup in the
Philippines? If we push it a little bit more, then we will have the
Back in college, the experience that I valued the same macro fundamentals that the US had years
most was learning from the people around me. ago. The e-commerce ecosystem in the US did
My classmates continuously challenged me to do not improve overnight, and our country is on that
better, and with my experience in Y-Combinator, same path.
I met founders of well-established startups like
Airbnb who have been there, done that. Q: Do you think the Philippines has the
homegrown talent and expertise needed for
Entrepreneurs in the Philippines need Fintech companies to flourish?
experienced role models that they can easily reach Yes, I strongly believe that we do. We have rich
out to. The biggest challenge is finding mentors engineering talent. In my experience, I have
who can teach you the ropes when you are just noticed a divide between people with technical
starting out. and business expertise. Over time, these skills will
converge and that barrier will slowly disappear.
If we want to grow this ecosystem, we need to
encourage more founders and build a larger There’s really only two things you need to do:
network. All together, we can make great things. talk to your users and build the product. As we
encourage each other, together we can focus on
building solutions.
Paymongo is a fintech startup simplifying online payments processes for

merchants and other markets. They are backed by prominent investors such
as Peter Thiel, payment processor Stripe, Founders Fund and Y Combinator. In
the pandemic, demand for their transactions increased over 4x.
Paymongo.com

KickstartingInnovationinthe
PhilippineVentureCapital Industry
“We have a front row view of problems endemic to emerging economies […]
these create opportunities for startups to offer innovative solutions.”
What is your view on the current state of the rest on leaders with good fiscal discipline: managed
Philippine startup industry? burn rates, a healthy cash flow, and a shorter path to
The Philippine startup industry is still in early-stage revenues.
innovation: generally, more tech startups than
scaleups. But we are also optimistic: Today, there What is the most exciting thing about running a VC
are more local investment funds set up by local firm in the country?
conglomerates and corporations that local startups The upside of being a VC based in the Philippines:
can approach for funding. We also noticed an we have a front row view of problems endemic to
uptick in the presence of foreign investors pre- emerging economies. And for us, these problems
lockdown while local incubators / accelerators are unique to emerging economies create opportunities
increasingly reaching out to Kickstart in their capacity for startups: offer innovative solutions that we can
as “institutional feeders” into the Kickstart deal find, invest in, and help scale across other emerging
pipeline. Likewise, there is increased engagement economies.
and information exchange between the startup Operating in an emerging economy that has the
community and government policymakers. 2nd largest population in Southeast Asia (next to
However, the ongoing Covid-19 crisis has shifted Indonesia) gives us proximity to overseas-based
the conversation in the startup community from startups and talent looking at the Philippines as
“fast-growth” to “survival.” It’s a changed world an ideal testbed for their products: we have the
-- some companies will thrive, some will be hard-hit problems and large pool of users but without the
by lockdowns. Across the room, VCs are focusing language barrier. Lastly, it is exciting to be a CVC
Minette Navarrete more on companies whose value propositions are based in the Philippines because we have a large
President considered immune to trends and disasters and addressable market that has one of the highest digital
backed by strong fundamentals. adoption rates globally.
Kickstart Ventures, Inc.
What are the changes in the VC landscape that What are the challenges of operating a VC firm in the
Kickstart has seen through the years? Philippines?
Minette is Vice-Chairman and When we started in March 2012, there were only a Historically, the Philippines is not top-of-mind in
President of Kickstart Ventures, handful of angel investors and institutional investors the Southeast Asia VC corridor. We attribute it to
Inc. She is a member of the funding digital tech startups. The launch of the a few exits and the occasional news on large-sized
Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (VCAP) investment rounds. The occasional “good news”
Ayala Corporation’s Innovation
in early 2019 is a hopeful sign -- that finally, there is is reflective of a young and still growing startup
Advisory Council, and of Globe’s a critical mass of VCs and PEs with real investment ecosystem whose enablers are yet to create an
Innovation Advisory Board. interests and activities with the local startup environment ideal for startups to thrive.
She is a Senior Vice President community. In the last two years, Kickstart also saw Because we operate in an early-stage innovation
at Globe Telecom, focusing on a rise in overseas-based VCs and corporate entities environment, Kickstart embraced the role of an
New Business, and a member requesting intros to or investing in local startups or ‘atypical VC’: for us, funding goes hand-in-hand with
co-investing with locally-based VCs. portfolio development for our startups to have a real
of the Board of Directors
shot at success, as well as startup ecosystem building
of AdSpark, Globe’s digital How do you see the startup industry changing in the to accelerate investing momentum and innovation
advertising subsidiary. Minette next few years? outcomes.
has held CEO/COO positions in Greater engagement from established corporates
various industries, ranging from for startups - whether as investors, collaborators, or Which sectors/industries are you prioritizing for
scrappy Philippine startups to customers. We also see continued improvement in startup investments?
iconic global companies. the quality of local startups in terms of scalability and With the Ayala ACTIVE Fund, we are focusing on
“investability”. Some contributing factors include: future outcomes that we believe in, more than on
founders moving on to their second and third specific solutions or technology, where our capital
ventures, former startup employees continuing to and operating muscle can strengthen startup
work for other startups or creating their own, and innovation. With that said, we are seeing promise
more successful founders proving to be points of and relevance in sectors such as Digital Content &
inspiration. Media, Cloud-based Productivity & Collaboration
The Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way VCs Tools, AI-powered Planning and Analytics Platforms,
and startups operate. For Kickstart, the crisis has Payments, Commerce & Logistics Platforms, Digital
peeled away the “fluffy” deals -- there is a sharper Healthcare and Education, Smart Devices and Space
focus on deals addressing deeply felt problems with Management, Innovative Leasing Business Models,
real customers. For startups, a strong product must and Mobility Solutions, among several others.
Kickstart Ventures is a Corporate Venture Capital firm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe
Telecom. Kickstart seeks and invests in early to early-growth stage startups. Today, the firm
manages USD 60 million across 2 funds for Globe: 45 investments across 8 countries – 30 of
which started in the Philippines. – making them the most active CVC in the country, with an
expanding international footprint. Kickstart also serves as Advisor to the Ayala Corporation
Technology Innovation Venture (ACTIVE) Fund, a $180M corporate venture capital established
by AC Ventures together with various Ayala group business units. www.kickstart.ph/

BridgingConglomerates
andStartups
“Conglomerates have an opportunity to provide significant value to a
startup beyond mere investment dollars through strategic involvement
leading to precious traction.”
Q: Could you tell us more about the Aboitiz existing portfolio. Investors have recently gotten
Group’s involvement in venture capital investing? bombarded by founders who are devising
Our organization is guided by a principle of or pivoting to a COVID-topical solution. The
Advancing Businesses and Communities. The associated hype often causes market noise and
most visible recent VC activity of the overall heightens investor susceptibility to FOMO and
organization has been through the UBX unit of obsession over social cues.
UnionBank. UBX is prominent in the VC ecosystem
due to our position as the digital-enablement Q: What startup sectors do you consider most
vector of Philippine businesses and bank account promising in the Philippines?
access vector of Philippine startups. As a strategic UnionBank is the first stop locally for Fintech
investor, we are uniquely positioned to develop startups given our comprehensive ecosystem-
mutual benefit with an investee-startup. We enabling approach. The vast majority of startups
made our VC investing bet accordingly. seek commercial dialogue with UnionBank, UBX Matthew Kolling
and Aboitiz units. We favor sectors that provide Chief Investment Officer
Q: Could you talk about the increasing investor opportunity for a startup to establish a defensible at UBX & Head of Venture
participation in VC among the large Philippine position for themselves while providing something Investments at Aboitiz
conglomerates? of value to users. As a strategic investor across Group of Companies
Thoughtful incumbents in the Philippines have our core sectors (Power, Food, Infra, Real Estate,
acknowledged the value of ideas and talent Financial Services), we are confident that the next
that comes from involvement with startups. wave of successful local startups will discover a Matt began his career with
Conglomerates have an opportunity to provide way to benefit themselves through leveraging Morgan Stanley as an Investment
significant value to a startup beyond mere business engagement with right-minded Banking Analyst and then
investment dollars through strategic involvement incumbents. continued as a Venture Associate
leading to precious traction. When the incumbent for Morgan Stanley Venture
organization commits to pursuing this activity, Q: What does the Philippines need to take the Partners. He has 20+ years
they become a viable destination for expert startup ecosystem to the next level? of transaction and investing
talent in the VC space and set themselves up Additional successful startup exits will provide experience, holding senior
to make a confident organizational bet on the greatest observable boost. At a higher level, positions at Providence Equity
further involvement. For UBX, we are recently there needs to be a change in mindset across the Partners, Primeiro Partners, and
entertaining inquiries from foreign investors entire landscape to migrate away from legacy LLK Partners. Matt was also the
looking to enter PH through us. thinking and the “old way of doing things”. The co-founding CFO of Ledger Atlas,
whole point of a startup is to disrupt and innovate a Draper-backed startup. He
Q: How has the investment environment been by marrying invention with economic opportunity. joined the Aboitiz Group in 2019
affected by Covid-19 and what could it mean for Startups can’t move fast and break things if they and appointed as CIO of UBX in
our investors? are drip-fed by investors and yet are expected to 2020. He is also the Screening
Unfortunately for founders, getting to “yes” be profitable immediately while simultaneously Committee Chair of the Manila
from an investor has gotten more difficult for conforming with myriad outdated rules and Angel Investors Network.
startups because skilled investors are focused structures that are remnants of a bygone era.
on cash runway and funding risks within their
The Aboitiz Group started in the late 1800s. Today, its investments are in power,
banking and financial services, food, land, construction, shipbuilding, and
infrastructure. It is recognized as among the best managed companies in the
Philippines and in the region, consistently cited for its strong commitment to good
corporate governance.

HelpingInvestors
HelpStartups
“However, the Philippines is a market that has yet to be largely disrupted by tech. This context
is very attractive for startups - and presents a significant opportunity for investors.”
Q: What are your observations on how investor hundreds of startups each year, presenting the
participation has changed over the past 5 years? best to its members.
What are trends that you are experiencing?
We believe that investors have always been willing Q: How would you describe the developments in
to back the Philippines, it was a matter of not investment opportunities?
knowing how to identify the best opportunities The Philippines is an earlier stage ecosystem
from the pack or get a seat at the table to make a compared to other countries in the ASEAN
deal. MAIN now provides that avenue. region. However, this presents an opportunity for
The fact that in a short time, MAIN has grown investors, where realistic valuations can be found
from a handful of people to a large group investing in a market that pre-COVID was on the cusp of
over USD 1 million annually, clearly demonstrates explosive growth. It is also a market that has had
how the Philippines investor and startup a shortage of local tech success stories although,
ecosystem has developed. this is changing.
James Lette
Executive Director The Philippines is a massive market - with almost Q: From your perspective, how has the invest-
Manila Angel Investors 110 million people and a growing middle class. ment environment been affected by Covid-19 and
Network It’s globally connected with an enormous Filipino what could it mean for our investors?
diaspora. It is also a digitally savvy nation. Some Investors are still looking to deploy capital into the
say it’s the social media capital of the world, and Philippines for those opportunities they believe
Prior to becoming MAIN’s the mobile texting capital of the world. However, in. Until more certainty returns about the wider
executive Director, James has the Philippines is a market that has yet to be economic ramifications of COVID-19, those sectors
had 25 years of experience largely disrupted by tech. This context is very which are considered investable has narrowed,
working with international attractive for startups - and presents a significant and the investments’ path to profitability
organizations and private opportunity for investors. needs to be clear. Despite COVID, several of our
companies all over Asia, Europe, portfolio still managed to close their Series A
the South Pacific, Africa It’s clear that fintech will continue to be the rounds, including Kumu and Qwikwire. MAIN also
and Australia. fastest-growing tech sector in the Philippines. syndicated investments into two new investments
The huge amount of remittances coming into in July 2020.
the country every year is a strength that can
be built upon. The moment local startups solve Q: What does the Philippines need to take the
the problem concerning the unbanked and the startup investing ecosystem to the next level?
inconveniences in the financial services industry, Anything that will help startups to succeed will
they have a solution that can be scaled globally. in turn benefit investors. As such, initiatives
to improve the ease of doing business in the
There are also opportunities to be found in other Philippines are key. Many of the other actions
sectors. For example, with the COVID-driven global needed to help the Philippines ecosystem are
realization that professional jobs no longer need addressed in the recent ‘Innovative Startup Act’.
to be tied to geography, the country’s strengths in A key aspect of this law are initiatives which will
outsourcing, talent and tech will provide myriad develop the pipeline of investable startups - the
new opportunities here. MAIN is constantly Startup Grant Fund and the Startup Venture Fund.
looking for these, screening the investability of
Founded in 2016, Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN) is the largest committed
private investors network in the Philippines that connects investors with promising
early-stage companies. Apart from providing capital funding, it also mentors
entrepreneurs, provides expertise support, and opens networking opportunities.
MAIN consists of private individuals and corporate members. www.main.ph

Aregional perspectiveonthe
Philippinelandscape
“Venture capital is an apprenticeship business. For a startup ecosystem to grow, the
new breed of entrepreneurs must apprentice under people who have achieved what
they set out to do, and set out to do even more.”
Q: How would you describe the Philippine Q: What does the Philippine startup ecosystem
startup ecosystem relative to other Southeast need to take it to the next level?
Asian countries? What the Philippines needs is strong mentorship
The Philippine startup ecosystem is young and guidance. It needs more role model
compared to its neighbours. I’d say it is five years entrepreneurs building hero products and creating
behind Indonesia and three years behind Vietnam. success stories to pave the way for the next batch
While the tech boom has occurred in other of entrepreneurs.
neighbouring countries, it’s strange why it hasn’t
yet happened in the Philippines especially when Once you have these success stories, you start
one can leverage the population’s proficiency in to have the financial capacity to hire world-class
the English language and its innate technology talent to allow experience to get passed on
affinity. from there. Venture capital is an apprenticeship
business. For a startup ecosystem to grow, the
One interesting theory I’ve come across recently next breed of entrepreneurs must apprentice
is that the slower technological adoption may be under people who have already achieved what Jeffrey Chua
due to the relative verticality of conglomerates they are setting out to do, and then set out to do Senior Associate
in the Philippines compared to countries like even more from there. Golden Gate Ventures
Indonesia. Wider conglomerates abroad may
have invested in tech earlier resulting to their Q: What advice can you share with venture
applications spreading faster. Today, we are seeing capital investors in the Philippines? Jeffrey is a Senior Associate at
Filipino conglomerates diversifying more, as well First, remember that we are dealing with Golden Gate Ventures. He han-
as investing in tech. Interestingly, COVID-19 has disruptions that have yet to happen. The dles on-ground work in various
positively accelerated adoption of technology innovation industry is built on mistakes and
Southeast Asian countries and
among corporates. mistakes are bound to happen. We are creating
across different VC functions,
history and one cannot be perfect. We just have to
from sourcing deals in Vietnam to
Another explanation may be drawn from the pick up the pieces and move ourselves forward.
limited growth opportunity of startups in the mentoring promising founders in
Philippines. In the past, a typical Filipino founder’s Second, we venture capital investors are lucky the Philippines.
promise would be a 2-3x multiple in five years. to learn from two sets of people. We learn
This multiple is not as attractive as compared from investor mentors in the firm on one side
to other SEA neighbors. VCs are dependent on and founder entrepreneurs on the other. It is a
tail-end returns, investing in startups having a 50- journey of consistently absorbing knowledge and
60% failure rate, and holding just a 15-20% stake improving step-by-step.
across companies. For that multiple to increase,
we need Filipino entrepreneurs to think bigger. Finally, be less stringent with targets and
Thankfully, we’re seeing more entrepreneurs deal terms when negotiating with startup
dreaming beyond Metro Manila. We need more entrepreneurs. Try to follow the norms of the
of these entrepreneurs who can say “I want to region because, more likely than not, subsequent
create something that will fundamentally impact rounds of financing will come from regional
business and society, not just in the Philippines, investors. Give support where you can add value
but in the world.” and allow the founders to grow. Remember that
at the end of the day, we are investing in a team
because we trust their capacity to execute well
and create disruptive products.
Golden Gate Ventures is a venture capital firm with over 30 investments across
seven Southeast Asian countries. They primarily invest in early-stage, tech-leveraged
startups spanning different sectors, including E-commerce, Fintech, and SaaS
platforms, among others. Some of their notable portfolio companies include GoJek,
Carousell, and Ayannah Global. goldengate.vc

DrivingHigh-Impact Entrepreneurship
inthePhilippines
“Entrepreneurs have to be 3M: magaling (skilled in developing a product, hiring
people, and running a business), matino (ethical), mapagbigay (expecting them to
pay it forward as we go along).”
Q: Can you tell us more about the work you do of funding, revenue generation and new startups.
with Endeavor? But when you compare us to the rest of Southeast
Our mission is to create an economic multiplier Asia you see that we have some catching up to do.
effect by helping to scale up a special kind of We lag our neighbors, particularly Indonesia and
entrepreneur that we call high-impact entrepre- Singapore, when it comes to funding and in terms
neurs. High-impact means 3 things - you have the of the value of internet based transactions. In
best ideas, you have the skills to create something terms of access to talent, there’s a lot of talent on
large and successful, and you pay it forward. Pay- the ground, especially managerial talent. For en-
ing it forward means once you become successful, gineering talent, it’s hard to find senior engineers
you reinvest your success in other entrepreneurs because a lot of them end up working overseas.
Manny Ayala by mentoring them, sharing your networks with For most Pinoys, the dream is still to work for big
Managing Director them, and even investing in them. The goal of companies and get big salaries. It’s still not a cul-
Endeavor Philippines Endeavor is that we help you, and then you mul- tural norm to start your own company but hearing
tiply yourself by 10 so that there are others who success stories can be motivating.
become like you. Hopefully, that next layer of 10 Lastly, the Philippines does not have a robust
will create another 10. We’ve been doing this now ecosystem in terms of access to experienced,
Manny is the Managing Director for 5 and half years in the Philippines. professional venture capital. We have a handful
of Endeavor Philippines. Prior In Endeavor, we have a very particular screening of early stage investors in the country while other
to his work with Endeavor, he process. Our entrepreneurs have to be 3M - countries like Indonesia will have well over 60
founded Hatchd Digital, a tech magaling (skilled in developing a product, hiring players.
incubator in the country. He people, and running a business), matino (ethical),
was a co-founder of Hong Kong and mapagbigay (expecting them to pay it forward Q: What advice would you give to aspiring entre-
based M&A boutique, IRG, as we go along.) preneurs?
Ltd, where he worked closely Follow advice of Simon Sinek from his book “Start
with the Telecoms, Media and Q: How promising is the Philippine startup land- with Why.” Figure out your why and the purpose
Tech sectors. Manny is also scape? of doing. I would suggest that simply making
experienced in the Television In absolute terms, it is promising. The market is money may not be the ideal “Why”. I’ve observed
industry having spent years certainly an attractive one – a large, young country that the pursuit of purpose trumps the pursuit of
working for Discovery Channel that is on the road to building a real middle class. money in most cases.
and Turner Broadcasting. He Every year is better than the previous one in terms
currently sits on the Board of
Directors of Sky Cable.
Endeavor Philippines is the local arm of the global non-profit

organization leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement.
With a presence in close to 40 markets all over the world, the
organization helps their entrepreneurs accelerate their growth
by giving them access to mentors, markets, capital, talent, and a
platform to give back.

PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, &COPYRIGHTS
PATENTS
What is a Patent?
TRADEMARKS
What is a Trademark?
101 COPYRIGHTS
What is a Copyright?
• An exclusive right granted for a • A word, a group of words, sign, • The legal protection extended to the
product, process or an improvement symbol, or a logo that identifies owner of the rights in an original work
of a product or process which is new, and differentiates the source • It grant authors, artists and other
inventive, and useful. of the goods or services of one creators automatic protection for
entity from those of others
• It protects the functional application their literary and artistic creations,
of a product • Gives protection to the identity from the moment they create it.
of brand and prevents others
• Throughout the life of the patent, it • Protects both original and derivative
allows the inventor to exclude others from using or exploiting the mark works
in any way
from making, using, or selling the
product. • May be a source of revenue for • “Original work” - every production
the owner through licensing or in the literary, scientific and artistic
The Three Criteria franchising of it to third parties domain
1. new,
Term of a Trademark • “Derivative work” - works based
2. involves an inventive step and upon one or more preexisting
To maintain protection of a
3. industrially applicable trademark, the actual use of the mark works
in commerce should be exhibited and Term of a Copyright
Term of a Patent proven by the mark owner
20 years from the filing date of the Copyright protection for artistic, literary,
application and it must be maintained and derivative works lasts during the
yearly, starting from the 5th year lifetime of the author plus 50 years after
the author’s death
FILINGA PATENT
Online Filing In-Person Filing
A. Specification and description of the patent: A. Three (3) filled out copies of the Patent Application Form
• The Title enabling description
• A brief statement of its • Distinct and explicit B. Specification and description of the patent:
nature and purposes claim or claims which • The Title enabling description
• Brief explanation of the the applicant seeks to be • A brief statement of its • Distinct and explicit
drawings, if any protected nature and purposes claim or claims which
• Complete and detailed • Abstract of the invention • Brief explanation of the the applicant seeks to be
drawings, if any protected
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Term Type of Financing
Startup founders do not always offer com-
Valuation Matters
Valuation is an important consideration not
Sheets
mon equity as the investment instrument only to fix the price, but for investors to
101
for venture capital investors. Here are other determine their ownership interests after
widely-used instruments: the investment.
Notes and Other Credit Pre-Money Valuation is the

Facilities are debt ar- monetary value of the com-
rangements that guaran- pany prior to investment. The
tee payments based on most common methods used
a fixed interest rate, and in startup valuation include (1)
which take precedence market multiples such as the
over equity. Convertible standard earnings multiple
Once an investment notes are a form of inter- method, (2) discounted cash flow, (3) cost-to-du-
opportunity is analyzed, est-bearing debt that allows the investor to convert plicate, and (4) comparables.
the instrument into equity sometime in the future
negotiations is an important and upon satisfying predetermined and negotiated Post-Money Valuation, on
next phase in many private conditions. the other hand, is the sum of
M&A transactions. A term the pre-money valuation and
sheet is created precisely Simple Agreement for Future the amount invested. Thus,
for this purpose. It contains Equity (SAFE) Notes allows for if a startup company has a
seed investments without in- pre-money value of $1,000,000
the material terms and terest rates or maturity dates. and it received investments of $250,000, then it
conditions of the agreement. Like an option or warrant, will have a post-money value of $1,250,000.
Although the term sheet is it allows the investor to buy
non-binding in practice, it shares in a future round. Other terminologies include
up, down, and flat rounds,
acts as a starting point for Preferred shares are a form of equity ownership which are all used to com-
both parties to discuss and with a fixed dividend rate. Deals of this kind typi- pare the value of the current
eventually, agree to. Here are cally specify participation and cumulative features. financing round relative to the
the most important items of In early-stage financing, preferred shares usually previous round. For example,
come with a conversion feature into a fixed number a flat round means that the shares issued at the
a term sheet:¹ of ordinary shares upon the fulfillment of certain current financing round are at the same valua-
conditions. tion as the previous round.
Rights and Provisions

Here are some of the most commonly discussed clauses in term sheets. Final Thoughts
While this article covers a few basic terms, it
Pre-emptive Rights or Reserved Matters lists
is important to evaluate M&A transactions on
Right of First Refusal are special matters that
a case-to-case basis and to take a tailored ap-
rights of investors who require approvals from
proach to negotiating deal terms. For startup
hitherto hold at least key persons like the Board
founders, terms must align with the capital
a specified number of of Directors or inves-
requirements and partner needs of the com-
shares to purchase a com- tors before founders or
pany. For investors, terms must be negotiated
pany’s new shares before management act on a
hand-in-hand with concerns arising from due
they are offered to other investors. In other decision. These typically allude to (i) alter-
diligence. Other globally-accepted practices
words, they protect investors from reductions ing the rights attached to investors’ shares,
can be found in online resources such as the
in ownership interests. (ii) involving material capital or operational
US NVCA Venture Capital Resources website.
expenditures, or (iii) changing the nature of
Management and the business. On the other hand, Protective
Moreover, negotiating deals in an economic
Information Rights is a Provisions grant investors the right to block or
crisis such as the current COVID-19 environ-
stipulation, typically in veto certain company decisions.
ment requires some adjustments. Changes
the form of a letter is-
in revenue projections, timelines, and crisis
sued by the company to Anti-Dilution Provisions
management are just some considerations
the investors, that may are clauses designed
that may have important implications on the
include the following: to protect preferred
negotiation process. For such considerations,
for the company to provide investors with shareholders from down
Golden Gate Ventures and Cooley LLP reminds
access to certain information (e.g. budgets rounds, or later issuances
founders and investors alike to (i) acknowl-
and financials), for the investor to be allowed of stock at a lower price
edge how COVID-19 affects the business, (ii)
to advise or consult the company, and for the than the preferred issue
prepare detailed financial forecasts under dif-
company to meet with investors throughout price. Typically, price is adjusted when pre-
ferent scenarios, and (iii) work hand-in-hand
the year. ferred shares convert into common shares.
through different contingency plans.
¹Sources: US National Venture Capital Association, Harvard Business School

INTRODUCTIONTOVENTURECAPITAL
What do venture capital
funds do?
A venture capital fund invests in startup companies
and young businesses that are believed to have
a potential for long-term growth. Many venture
capital funds typically look for startup companies
that are trying to solve a social problem through
innovative solutions and technology. Once an
investment is made, venture capital funds may
further support their companies with management
expertise, network, and mentorship, apart from
providing financing.
What are the risks that

come with venture capital
investing?
It is generally known that only one in 10 startup
companies is expected to succeed and thrive and
venture capital investors take on the risk of making
this assessment with every entrepreneur who
approaches them. A venture capital fund’s overall
success usually relies on one or two highly success-
ful investments that are able to offset the losses
from the rest of their portfolio.
How does venture capital differ from other types of startup investors?
DISTINCTIONS
VENTURE CAPITAL CORPORATE VC ANGEL INVESTOR

While there is no typical VC firm, Large companies may opt to directly High net worth individuals
venture capital firms in general invest corporate funds into wholly who invest in promising
seek to provide capital, expertise external startups through equity startups using personal funds
and mentorship to early stage acquisition, usually as a strategic
for profit. Usually undertakes
companies with high rates of investment to benefit its own busi-
failure in exchange for an equity ness or for high potential returns,
minimal roles and acts as a
stake. thinking it sees something other VC business mentor.
firms and investors don’t.
Angel Investor.

Understanding “Investment Rounds”
Startups seldom begin their the ball rolling. user or customer base, and a participate in series B funding
businesses with the necessary decent burn rate. At this stage, rounds are venture capitals,
amount of capital in order to SEED FUNDING inventors analyze whether or private equity firms, certain
sustain the company and bring not the company has a solid hedge funds, and corporate
it to the founder’s envisioned The seed round is the first business model that can stay venture arms.
heights. This is the main motive official equity funding stage of profitable in the long term and
behind seeking outside funding, a business, and this is when a credible management team SERIES C FUNDING AND
however this capital isn’t just startup capital can be expect- that can achieve the goals set
ed from angel investors and BEYOND
handed to them in a lump sum by the company. The funds
amount. Startups and early more formal organizations generated in the Series A round Companies that pursue series
stage businesses raise their cap- such as accelerators, incuba- are typically used to further op- C funding and beyond are most
ital through a series of “funding tors, and venture capital firms. timize the firm’s business model likely successful with a proven
rounds” wherein founders Understandably, a net positive to mold it into a more scalable business model, constant
trade a certain percentage of income and consistent revenues and innovative platform. Some revenue streams, and a strong
equity in their company with are difficult to attain at such of the usual investors who par- customer base. Therefore,
investors for a fixed amount of an early stage of a business, ticipate in this round are angel capital acquired from additional
capital that should be sufficient therefore investors are looking investors and venture capital funding rounds are commonly
enough to carry the firm to the mostly to buy into the big idea firms. used for market share supersiz-
next stage or milestone. The fol- that the founders are trying ing, new product development,
lowing are the general financing to pitch. The raised capital at or even strategic acquisitions
this stage is typically used to SERIES B FUNDING of other companies. The usual
rounds that funds participate in:
strongly boost the company’s The Series B funding stage is players that participate in these
entrance into the market, and centered around firmly solid- late stage rounds are private
PRE-SEED FUNDING thus is spent for research and ifying the company’s position equity firms, investment banks,
Being the earliest funding stage product development, assess- in the market, as well as taking and hedge funds. Any succeed-
of a new and unknown compa- ment of product-market fit, and the business to new heights ing rounds after series C are
ny, investors from outside the key hiring. by using the capital raised primarily due to any milestones
founders’ personal circles of for broadening market reach or goals that were not achieved
family and friends are extreme- SERIES A FUNDING through geographic expansion, using the raised capital from
ly rare. At most, only angel in- advertising, and new market the previous rounds, or used
Reaching this stage of fund- exploration. At this point, the as a final push to boost up
vestors participate in this stage ing for a company takes an company should already have the company valuation for an
instead. The pre-seed stage established track record which a well-established and sus- impending IPO.
pertains to the period where
includes reasonable and con- tainable business model. The
the founders are still initiating sistent revenues, a generous investor profiles that tend to
business operations and getting
INCUBATOR ACCELERATOR PRIVATE EQUITY FUND FAMILY OFFICES

Instead of providing capital, Accelerators typically work While VC is a subset of These are private wealth management
incubators work on a flex- with startups at the mini- Private Equity, Private Equity advisory firms for ultra-high net worth
ible timeline to help start- mum viable product stage Funds typically are focused individuals. They are much more agile
ups with disruptive ideas to expedite their growth and on long-term investments in and flexible as they have an indefinite
flesh out their business scale up their business by high potential companies. fund life and typically no investment
plans, determine prod- giving them access to a large Typically, PE firms participate horizons. Investment objectives are de-
uct-market fit, and create mentorship network. in late stage funding rounds termined by the client family/individual
sound business models. for more mature companies. and are simply guided by the firm, and
can typically absorb more short term
losses as they do not seek liquidity.

THEPERFECTPITCH:
Tips fromVentureCapitalists
What seasoned VCs look for in an investment pitch
“At most you have “Focus on providing “Do your homework on “A startup’s pitch must
5 minutes to grab evidence to back up who you are pitching to start with the problem
investors and convince your pitch. Prove that and be prepared to tailor they are trying to
them to engage you your solution solves it accordingly. Always solve, the market size
on the detail. They a market pain point try and raise from a of this problem, and
will understand your with a quantification position of strength (not then the solution. This
mission and vision of the benefit provided when you are 1 month needs to be done as
very quickly - so don’t versus the status quo till cash out date), and clearly and concisely as
spend long on this. alternative. Prove that remember treat your possible. At the same
You need to instead you are the right team equity like gold.” time, we look for the
show them why you to solve the underlying founder and his or her
are the team that will problem with an Jeffrey Chua, Senior Associate team to demonstrate
succeed. You will do audience-friendly story at Golden Gate Ventures that they have both
this by demonstrating about your relevant the conviction and
that you understand domain expertise and mental strength to
your business model personal attachment. execute on this vision.
- how what you do is Be clear with the As a founders-first firm
scalable and has a path investment size and investing in the early
to profitability - and what it will be used stage, we believe that
show you have found for. Eliminate jargon a founder needs to be
product market fit. ” and motherhood mission driven and will
statements to instead play an integral role as
James Lette, Executive offer a plain-English the anchor of any good
Director at Manila Angel
Investors Network explanation of key company.”
takeaways. ”
RJ Balmater, Senior
Matthew Kolling, Head Investment Analyst at
of Venture Investments at Monk’s Hill Ventures
Aboitiz Group of Companies
& Investment Committee
Chairman at UBX Philippines

FOXMONTCAPITAL Portfolio
Companies
PARTNERS
Booky is a food and lifestyle platform
in the Philippines. Users of the
Foxmont Capital Partners is a multi-focus in order to bridge the gap from idea to mature platform discover places, discover
venture capital fund dedicated to investing establishment. promotions, and book reservations in
in Philippine startups and Filipino founders. over 4,000 partner establishments.
We typically participate in Seed to Series Prior to the genesis of Foxmont, we noticed The app is rated 4.5 stars by 1.4k
B investment rounds and provide our an early-stage funding gap in the country’s raters and ranked #2 in the Food
entrepreneurs with further support in the form financial ecosystem due to the limited presence & Drink category on the Apple app
of capital, expertise, and network. of venture capital and angel investors. The lack store.
of access to capital for the growing number of
Foxmont is grounded by the philosophy of innovation-driven companies together with
being “entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs” as we the team’s areas of expertise provided a clear
take an active, hands-on approach in assisting picture for opportunity .
portfolio companies depending on the area of
need. Apart from our founders being startup We believe that our young startup ecosystem
entrepreneurs themselves, we assist our requires an approach that strikes a balance
portfolio companies with through our collective between providing financial and nonfinancial Bounce Philippines is the largest and
forms of support to entrepreneurs. We believe fastest-growing trampoline park in
experience in operations management, private
the country needs more investors who value the country. It offers recreational
equity, investment banking, real estate, and
relationship-driven growth and mentorship, activities and facilities such as wall
logistics. climbing, dodgeball, ninja courses,
on top of having a willingness to support
and foam pits, among others. The
As a venture capital fund, we are able to invest entrepreneurs on a day-to-day basis. Foxmont
company currently operates in four
in non-traditional and structured instruments strives to be a leader in practicing this style of locations across Luzon.
tailored to suit the goals of the entrepreneur venture capital fund management.
Edukasyon is
an education
Our Team technology platform

that helps Filipino
Gen Z students
navigate through
their education
and career decisions. It provides
a platform for school discovery,
information for studying abroad,
scholarships, and online education,
among others. To date, the platform
draws in over 10 million unique visits
per year.
Kumu is a
livestreaming app
that prioritizes
the voices of
Franco Varona Jesse Maxwell Mark Kooijman Santino Ongsiako Filipinos in over 55
Managing Partner Partner Partner Principal countries around
the world. Users
meet, interact, and even win cash
prizes in the “Kumunity”, while
livestreamers may earn through gifts
and various promotion runs. To date,
the platform has over one million
registered users since its launch in
August 2018.

ManilaAngel Investors
NetworkInc.
Founded in 2016, the Manila Angel Investors Network Inc. (MAIN) is a not-for profit which
supports the Philippines’ startup ecosystem by connecting investors with promising early-stage
companies. Members are composed of individuals and corporate entities - such as financial
services or venture capital firms, and family offices across Asia.
Members of MAIN gain exposure to high quality investment opportunities that have been
selected, screened, and negotiated by experienced angel investors and business leaders
deploying the substantial experience of MAIN in making, building and realizing seed and early
expansion investments.
GENDERLENSINVESTMENTINTHEPHILIPPINES
MAIN is committed to gender lens investing as it leads to better investment decisions and business
outcomes. MAIN is being supported by Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian
Government, to create and operationalise holistic gender lens investing strategies.
Women represent a source of untapped entrepreneurial potential in the Philippines. The Philippines is
the gender equality leader in Southeast Asia, ranked 8th out of 149 countries in the 2018 WEF global
gender gap index, making strong progress in women’s economic empowerment, cultural and political
barriers that continue to restrict opportunities available to women. Barriers for women are particularly
felt in terms of gender bias in access to financial services, availability of finance programs for women,
SME training and development programs, ease of access to loans, and affordability of financial services.
Other research identifies that Filipino women have less access to social and professional connections,
restricting their ability to capitalise on business opportunities.
As the only impact-focused angel investment network in the Philippines, these are key gaps MAIN
fills. MAIN and IW are partnering up to improve women-led SMEs access to early stage capital in the
Philippines, and to support more women to become business angel investors.
MAIN is committed to catalyze investment into women-led early-stage high-growth SMEs, closing an initial raise in an investment vehicle (Kerubin
Capital Pte Ltd) for this purpose. MAIN also runs a business acceleration program to improve the investment readiness of women-led SMEs as well
as provide post-investment support to scale their operations. Leveraging on the strength of its member angel investors, MAIN is working to increase
and diversify the Philippines pool of angel investors, as well as mobilise investment and build in a Gender-Lens investment approach.
Deployment of Capital startup ecosystem will benefit both their portfolios

MAIN is the largest committed private investors and the Philippines’ growth. MAIN actively
network in the Philippines, deploying over USD 1 collaborates with development organizations to
million of capital each year into early-stage capital- further its impact, such as the Australian-funded
efficient technology start-ups in the Philippines. ‘Investing in Women’ program and the USAID-
The robust, proprietary deal sourcing network funded SwissContact ‘Rise’ program.
of our membership, affiliates, and brand enables
access to the best early stage companies in the Catalyzing Impact Capital
Philippines. MAIN tracks and screens the majority MAIN intentionally seeks to contribute impact
of Philippines startups which are past the ideation as part of its investment thesis, and when the
stage. pipeline permits holds impact investment focused
investment meetings.
Developing the pipeline of Philippine Startups
MAIN is committed to helping founders succeed. In collaboration with impact focused limited
As well as providing capital, MAIN and its members partners, MAIN operates a number of blended
mentor entrepreneurs, share expertise and finance instruments that invest alongside our
open networks to address issues of investment syndicates. This includes Kerubin Capital Pte Ltd,
readiness in the pipeline, and to provide post- whose mission is to provide catalytic investment
investment support to scale operations. MAIN capital for women-owned and women-led SME’s
members believe that fostering the innovative operating in the Philippines
If you are interested in learning about angel investing from experienced investors, mentoring startups and having fun in your journey
as a business angel, they can be contacted through [email protected]

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METHODOLOGY
GENERALFoxmont Capital Partners used a combination of online INVESTORSWe define investors as any individual or institution
resources, information made publicly-available by data platforms, that provides financing to startup companies in exchange for an
and information from locally-based data partners in gathering economic interest in the business.
venture data for the Philippine Venture Capital Report. These
include information from Crunchbase, Pitchbook, PwC Philippines,
DEALSWe define deals as venture capital transactions where
QBO Innovation Hub, UBX, and Manila Angel Investors Network.
startup companies raise capital from external sources, which
Furthermore, data was cross-checked and verified against research
include financing received from venture capital funds, angel
publications, news articles, venture capital fund websites, and
investors, angel groups, accelerators, incubators, corporate venture
startup company websites.
firms, corporate startup investors, joint ventures, private equity
funds, mergers and acquisitions, grants, and crowdfunding.
The data covers Philippine venture capital transactions announced
within a 2.5 year period between Q1 2018 and Q2 2020 where
aggregate figures were calculated based on 107 completed FINANCINGROUNDSIn general, fundraising rounds were
startup deals due to the limited extent at which deal information determined in accordance to public disclosures released by startup
is disclosed. While the analysis of fundraising activity excludes companies and those labeled by our data partners. Furthermore,
buyouts, larger private equity mergers and acquisitions and joint we define Pre-Seed as investment rounds disclosed as “pre-seed”
venture transactions, they were considered for other sections of or any fundraising round transpiring before the Seed round, with
the report where it was deemed appropriate to consider. Dates the exception of transactions specifically labeled otherwise such
used are generally reflective of publishing dates of press releases as Crowdfunding, Incubator/Accelerator rounds, Grants, and Angel
and/or company disclosures. rounds. Early Stage refers to the rounds between Seed to Series
C, and include those labeled as Early Stage, Bridge rounds, and
STARTUPCOMPANIESWe define a startup company as an Venture rounds with no further specifications. Later Stages refer to
innovation-driven company, usually involved in technology, in its rounds from Series D onwards and include fund raising activity with
early stages of business and characterized by high growth potential, corporate and private equity funds by startup companies at more
social impact and/or delivering new solutions to consumer mature growth phases. Finally, judgement and discretion had to be
problems. This report only covers startup companies domiciled in exercised for transactions where deal characteristics were unclear.
the Philippines or with significant operations in the Philippines.
DISCLAIMER
No representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as Prior to entering into any transaction, you should determine,
to the accuracy of the information or opinions contained in this without reliance upon us or our affiliates, the economic risks
report (the “Report”), and no liability is accepted for any such and merits (and independently determine that you are able
information or opinions by Foxmont Capital Partners (“FCP”) or any to assume these risks) as well as the legal, tax and accounting
of its partners, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents or characterizations and consequences of any such transaction. In
advisers. This information has not been verified by independent this regard, by accepting this Report, you acknowledge that (a)
experts or assembled collectively and is subject to change, and we are not in the business of providing (and you are not relying
there is no guarantee that the information contained in this on us for) legal, tax or accounting advice, (b) there may be legal,
Report is accurate or complete and not misleading nor that FCP’s tax or accounting risks associated with any transaction, (c) you
opinion of the market is accurate or complete and not misleading. should receive (and rely on) separate and qualified legal, tax and
The information included in this Report is subject to updating, accounting advice and (d) you should apprise senior management
completion, revision and amendment, and such information may in your organization as to such legal, tax and accounting advice (and
change materially. No person is under any obligation to update any risks associated with any transaction) and our disclaimer as to
or keep current the information contained in the Report. Any these matters.
opinions, assumptions and estimates are as of the date indicated
and are subject to change without prior notice. FCP or any of its related companies or any individuals accepts no
liability for any direct, special, indirect, consequential, incidental
This Report does not constitute a prospectus or form part of any damages or any other loss or damages of any kind arising from
offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to any use of the information herein (including any error, omission
purchase or subscribe for, or any offer to underwrite or otherwise or misstatement herein, negligent or otherwise) or further
acquire any securities, nor shall this Report or any part of it nor communication thereof, even if FCP or any other person has been
the fact of its distribution or communication form the basis of, advised of the possibility thereof. FCP and its partners, affiliates,
or be relied on in connection with, any contract, commitment or directors, officers and/or employees may have positions or other
investment decision in relation thereto, nor does it constitute a interests in, and may affect transactions in securities mentioned
recommendation regarding any securities or transactions. herein and may also perform or seek to perform brokering,
investment banking and other advisory or financial services for
these companies.

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PHILIPPINEVENTURE

D ATA & D I S T R I B U T I O N D ATA & D I S T R I B U T I O N D ATA PA R T N E R C O N S U LTA N T P U B L I C AT I O N

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 1 11/16/2020 11:23:31 AM

Meanwhile, on the startup side, there’s been

If you have any questions or need ANNEX

Signed, Jesse Maxwell Franco Varona Mark Kooijman

FOXMONTCAPITALPARTNERS PWCPHILIPPINES UBX

03 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 3 11/21/2020 11:43:39 PM

Rene “Butch” Meily

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 4 11/16/2020 11:23:35 AM

52 South Africa Factor Scores (Highest: 10)

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 5 11/16/2020 11:23:36 AM

06 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 6 11/16/2020 11:23:36 AM

M&A refers to corporate mergers and acquisitions transac-

07 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 7 11/16/2020 11:23:37 AM

CloudEats Restaurants/Hotel/Leisure $1,400,000 Seed undisclosed

Edukasyon.ph Education $3,370,000 Series B undisclosed

Chaac Ventures, Elysium Venture Capital, Kairos

TendoPay Fintech $150,000 Incubator/Accelerator Ventures One

Sequoia Capial, Point 72 Ventures, Insignia, and

Uploan Fintech $10,200,000 Series A Infinity Ventures

PLDT, KKR, IFC, IFC Emerging Asia Fund, and

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 8 11/16/2020 11:23:38 AM

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 9 11/16/2020 11:23:38 AM

The country also continues to

The distribution of deal value provides a different

Additionally, several startups located outside of the National

10 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

Philippine Venture Report 2020.indd 10 11/16/2020 11:23:40 AM

COMPANY DEAL LAUNCH FUNDING ROUND FUNDS RAISED INDUSTRY GROUP

Voyager Innovations Inc. 10/4/2018 Private Equity $175,000,000 Fintech

Voyager Innovations Inc. 4/6/2020 Private Equity $120,000,000 Fintech

Multisys 11/8/2018 Corporate $40,730,000 Software & Services

Voyager Innovations Inc. 11/26/2018 Private Equity $40,000,000 Fintech

C88 Financial Technologies Pte Ltd. 7/30/2018 Series C $28,000,000 Fintech

First Circle 10/2/2018 Series A $26,000,000 Fintech

Tonik Digital Bank, Inc. 10/2/2018 Seed $21,000,000 Fintech

Great Deals E-commerce Corp 1/1/2020 Private Equity $12,000,000 E-Commerce

Black Arrow Express 7/7/2018 Series A $7,000,000 Logistics

Sprout Solutions 10/14/2019 Series A $6,000,000 HR Services

Kumu 4/14/2020 Series A $5,000,000 Media & Entertainment

Inteluck 3/31/2020 Bridge Round $5,000,000 Logistics

Black Arrow Express 12/6/2019 Undisclosed $4,000,000 Logistics

Consumer Goods &

Edukasyon.ph 2/5/2020 Series B $3,370,000 Education

Right Choice Finance 4/1/2019 Series A $2,950,000 Fintech

PayMongo 9/25/2019 Seed $2,700,000 Fintech

SendFriend 2/11/2019 Pre-Seed $1,700,000 Fintech

GoodWork.ph 5/14/2020 Seed $1,600,000 Software & Services

11 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

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With most of the startups

Similar to other countries, the startup ecosystem has experienced

14 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

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15 Philippine Venture Capital Report 2020

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