The Philippines’ fuel for being a startup hotspot

Once a laggard, the Philippines now attracts overseas investors seeking growth opportunities while Philippine entrepreneurs—both local and overseas—are seizing the initiative to start companies. Covid provided that boost, but now the ecosystem must mature itself

The Philippines share of investment dollars jumped 9X in two years, with Kumu raising over US$100 million and Mynt becoming the nation’s first unicorn

The pandemic not only accelerated certain digital businesses but it forced investors to look overseas and make remote deals

Now founders of growing startups are sharing their experiences—and even doing deals—to help young companies develop

The future looks brighter, but the Philippines still faces questions over a tech talent shortage and where exits will come from

Covid is rarely seen as the missing ingredient for anything. But in the case of the Philippines, the pandemic served as an accelerant to advance the country’s nascent startup system with growth it had never seen before.

That was most visible when Kumu, a social and streaming service, raised a Series C investment in October 2021 led by blue chip firm General Atlantic, the New York fund that counts Slack, Snap and Uber among its best investments. Early ByteDance backer Susquehanna International Group (SIG) is also an investor—in what is only its second deal in the country.

The Philippines’ rising is symbolised by Kumu’s breakout past two years, as The Ken has written written The Ken Not content with just content, Kumu eyes new growth engines Read more , during which time it raised over US$100 million.

AUTHOR

Jon Russell

Jon Russell is Southeast Asia editor for The Ken based in Bangkok. Originally from the UK, Jon moved to Thailand in 2008. He’s passionate about telling thoughtful business stories, and tracking the impact of the internet in his adopted home of Southeast Asia.

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