Even amidst funding challenges and a less-than-rosy outlook for the year, there is still much to applaud and celebrate about the current Philippine startup ecosystem. About 55 percent of startup founders surveyed said they expect their companies to be profitable within one to two years, while 20 percent reported that profitability is something that they’ve already achieved.
Funding may have slowed in 2023 versus the year before, and founders have expressed pessimism about accessing much-needed capital support for their companies, but let’s not forget Manila made it back to the top 100 startup ecosystems in the world according to the Global Startup Ecosystems Report after dropping off the list completely in 2022. There was an increase in the number of startup deals versus last year, and the Philippines is still viewed as an attractive market for startup investment and expansion due to an evolving ecosystem, accelerated digitalization, a young and growing population, and increased government support.
All of this is due in no small part to the people who toil behind the scenes armed with little else than a great idea and an almost maddening doggedness to see it through to fruition. They are founders, executives, venture capitalists, investors, incubators, and supporters who are all working toward a common goal—a better, more efficient way to do things, to benefit more and burden less. In the process, they inspire the rest of us to do better. These are the people we honor in Esquire’s Startup Trailblazers List 2024.
See the 2022 list here, and the 2023 list here.
Marilen Tantamco
JG Dev
Marilen Tantamco is portfolio director at JG Dev, the corporate VC arm of the Gokongwei Family’s JG Summit. In this role she helps identify and invest in promising startups not just in the Philippines but across Southeast Asia. Some notable investments by the group include Locad; Growsari; Sarisuki; Etaily; South Africa’s Tyme Bank, with whom the Gokongwei Group formed digital bank GoTyme in 2022; and HR platform Darwinbox. Tantamco is of course, no stranger to the space, with her involvement with tech incubator Hatchd, which she co-founded alongside fellow-heavy hitters Manny Ayala, Nix Nolledo, Mellissa Limcaoco in 2010.
Jay Fajardo
Ideaspace Ventures and QBO Innovation Hub
Jay Fajardo is a startup founder, consultant, adviser, mentor, strategist, and many other things all at once. He has founded or co-founded several tech startups over the years, including companies like Airborne Access Corp., the country’s first Wi-Fi hotspot (which was later acquired by PLDT); healthcare solutions provider Medifi; co-working and tech innovation hub Launchgarage; fan engagement platform HeyRoomie, and others. He also sits on the board of or advises other startups and regularly joins panels here and abroad to talk about the things he is most passionate about, including tech and business and the intersection of the two. This year, he’s added another feather in his cap, as the new executive director of startup enablers Ideaspace Ventures and QBO Innovation Hub. Both companies, whose mission is to find and fund the next great Filipino startups, will undoubtedly benefit from Jay’s one-of-a-kind expertise, commitment, and zeal for innovation and collaboration.
Raffy Montemayor, Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov
Salmon
Salmon is a consumer fintech company that initially offered in-store financing (buy now, pay later) for consumers but has quickly expanded into other financial products such as consumer loans and revolving credit lines. Founded in July 2022 by Raffy Montemayor, Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov, the company has seen tremendous growth and most recently acquired a controlling stake in the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa, allowing it to become a licensed bank in the Philippines. With plans to open new branches and expand its offerings, Salmon is making good on its mission to expand financial inclusion by making finance simpler and more accessible to more people.
Dexter Ligot-Gordon
Swarm
Swarm is a tech company that connects startup founders with freelance tech builders. It’s a community-driven, invite-only freelancer network, where users are able to connect with potential clients only after they are endorsed by other users, who are essentially staking their reputation in exchange for rewards. Co-founded by Dexter Ligot-Gordon, who is well-known in the local circles for having also co-founded Kalibrr, Swarm closed the beta version of its platform in October 2023 and secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding a month later. It now lays claim to being the top platform for those looking for senior consultants and agencies in the country.
Zoe Ocampo, Jules Jurado, Prabh Singh, Frederic Levy
Toki
Filipinos are avid collectors, and Toki is capitalizing on this love by creating the country’s first social commerce platform devoted exclusively to collectibles—everything from Lego and sports cards to art toys and sneakers. The startup that launched in November 2023 already has some pretty heavy backers, including venture capital firms Kaya Founders and Foxmont Capital Partners, as well as strategic investors Anthony Oundjian (Boston Consulting Group Philippines), Brian Cu (SariSuki), Ernest Cu (Globe), and investment from Christian Robert “Bigboy” Cheng, all of whom plunked down a total of $1.8 million in pre-seed funding. Already the platform has expanded its collectibles category to include trading cards from popular IPs like One Piece, Pokemon, Marvel, and Disney.
Xavier Marzan
(f)dev
(F)Dev is the venture studio backed by the Gotianuns of the Filinvest group. The primary mission of the group is to help turn the different units of the conglomerate into digital-first and future-ready businesses, and it does this through investments in startups, as well partnerships with experts and other tech enterprises. Leading the charge is Xavier Marzan, a former CEO and COO at GCash and who has worked over two decades in different tech-driven industries such as digital media, finance, consulting and corporate venture-building. His mission is to help drive innovation for the Filinvest group in the hopes that it would eventually translate to digital inclusion for more people in more places around the country and the world. (f)dev’s investment portfolio now includes startups like Fastwire, Investree, Qwote, Komo, Stealth Cloud Kitchen, and filinvent.io.
Jojo Flores
Plug and Play
Plug and Play is a Silicon Valley-based early-stage accelerator and incubator whose network currently includes over 50,000 startups, over 500 corporations, and hundreds of VC firms, universities, and government agencies across the planet. Since it was founded, Plug and Play startups have raised over $10 billion in funding, and its portfolio includes dozens of household names, including unicorns like Paypal, Dropbox, Soundhound, Honey, Coursehero, Turing Labs, and many others. Flores, who co-founded Plug and Play with Saeed Amidi, sits on the board and is also the co-founder of local accelerator and tech innovation hub Launchgarage and sits on the advisory council of local startups like Tangere, Taxumo, Mober, galileo, and others. And as if that wasn’t enough, he is also a board member and vice president in the government’s Science and Technology Advisory Council as well as leading universities nationwide.
David Hardoon
Aboitiz Data Innovation
As CEO of Aboitiz Data Innovation and chief data and AI officer of UnionBank, David Hardoon is at the forefront of promoting a data-first culture within the Aboitiz group. The tech industry veteran has had a long and illustrious career in the tech and finance space, including stints as chief data officer and data analytics group head of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and special advisor for artificial intelligence under that country’s deputy managing director for markets and development. In the Aboitiz Group, Hardoon is helping operationalize data science and AI “to drive high-impact innovations and business growth.” In 2022, Hardoon was the recipient of the Chief Data Officer of the Year award from the ASEAN Edition of the CDOTrends Reader’s Choice Awards.
Amanda Cua
Backscoop
For many in the tech and startup business here and across the region, Backscoop is the go-to source for news and updates within the industry and beyond. Fresh out of high school in 2020, Cua opted to learn coding with Avion School instead of enrolling in university and attending classes via Zoom. She ended up working at Avion School and getting exposed to newsletters like The Morning Brew and The Hustle. From there, she developed the idea of a local version of a newsletter focused on tech and startups, and that’s when Backscoop was born. Today the newsletter counts nearly 10,000 subscribers and covers the most consequential news and features in the startup space not just in the Philippines but across Southeast Asia.
Mel Nava
1Export
Mel Nava founded 1Export in 2016 and since then, she has played a pivotal role in helping Filipino micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) expand their reach in international markets. Today, 1Export has a presence in over 900 online and offline stores in over 50 overseas markets.
Jay Haendler, Simon Bauer, Thomas Abentung
Founders Launchpad
Founders Launchpad is an early-stage startup accelerator that provides funding, resources, and guidance to high-potential startups to help them launch or scale their businesses. The group co-founded by three seasoned investors introduced an ecosystem-disrupting program and has already invested in six promising ventures that is meant to be the start of a much larger portfolio. In February 2024, Founders Launchpad teamed up with Kaya Founders to launch a new accelerator program that will provide access to funding with the possibility of investments from either Kaya or FL or both; mentorship and hands-on guidance; a co-working and co-living space in the heart of Poblacion, Makati; and post-program support.
Claire Ongcangco
Parlon
A portmanteau of the words “parlor” and “salon,” Parlon is an online marketplace where people can go to book salon and wellness services. In October 2023, the company raised $400,000 (about P23 million) in a pre-seed round that will help the startup expand its services across the country and the region by onboarding more merchants and growing its user base. It has already launched a platform in Singapore and also announced that its has secured an operator of payment services (OPS) license from the BSP, the first beauty-focused platform in the country to do so.
Andrew Koger
Helixpay
Andrew Koger may have a degree in history from Princeton, but his body of work spans investment analysis, logistics and fulfillment, and third-party home services. Two years ago, he founded HelixPay, a startup that enables ecommerce, payments, and ticketing solutions for events, exhibits, cinemas and more in Manila and greater Southeast Asia. Today, HelixPay is backed by several ventures including Foxmont Capital Partners, Elysium Venture Capital, and angel investors from Google, TikTok, and Alibaba.
Martin Peñaflor
Tangere
Tangere is a market research company that utilizes a mobile-only survey platform. Founded in 2018, the app claims to have over half a million downloads from users enticed by the chance of winning cash prizes simply by answering its surveys or referring other users to download the app. While initially used to conduct market research for corporate clients, Tangere gained notices for its polls involving candidates during high-stakes elections. Peñaflor won Season 4 of The Final Pitch, securing P8 million in seed funding from Mega Global Corp. and has since conducted commissioned and non-commissioned surveys for clients in the public and private sectors, including the Department of Trade and Industry, the Dangerous Drugs Board, Mega Global Corporation, Aboitiz, SMDC, Green Cross, AirAsia, and many others.
Adnan Agha
ProCredit
ProCredit is a fintech startup focused on providing loans to SMEs through a “credit-first client engagement model.” The company is run by a team of finance industry veterans with a combined 50 years of experience in SME lending in emerging markets. The startup was founded and is now led by Adnan Agha, a former chief risk officer for the Asian Development Bank and the National Bank of Pakistan, among other high-profile engagements. In February this year, ProCredit raised about $4.1 million (about P230 million) in a pre-seed round, which it intends to use to expand its loan book through organic and inorganic growth and to raise additional capital.
Martin Consing and Kurt Itzak Cabanilla
Amica AI Technologies
Amica AI Technologies is a tech startup founded in 2023 by Martin Consing and Kurt Itzak Cabanilla. Its current main product is Haven, a “recreational” chatbot that consists of AI models meant to simulate human behavior. The idea is for users to “develop long-term organic relationships over time” that the company hopes will help address and alleviate the epidemic of loneliness. Users can choose from an available set of humanlike “personalities” that the creators developed not just from a large language model, but from multiple AI models and functions. The service is currently free but there is a paid tier where users can enjoy unlimited chat exchanges and early access to new personalities in the future. Amica AI’s founders envision Haven to provide emotional support and companionship and help fill the void of social interaction.
Yroen Guaya Melgar and Adrian Peterson Co
Mochi
Mochi is essentially an automated invoicing solution for businesses. The platform simplifies billing and collections, helping reduce accounting errors so business owners can focus on the important stuff. Founders Yroen Guaya Melgar and Adrian Peterson Co both have solid backgrounds in finance and tech; Melgar co-founded insurance platform Vesl, spent time as a finance sector specialist with the World Bank, and was involved in new business development with Kaya Founders. Co, meanwhile, is an experienced software engineer, working with Logitech and other startups. Together, they built Mochi (which is derived from the Japanese word for “on hand”), which they envision to become an indispensable tool for Filipino businesses.
Jay Gatmaitan
Startup QC / Quezon City Local Economic Investment Promotions Office
The Quezon City Local Economic Investment and Promotions Office (LEIPO) envisions the city as a premier destination for investors through its innovative StartUp QC Program, which aims to support early-stage startups with promising products or services. It offers financial grants to startups, fostering innovation, creating job opportunities, and promoting entrepreneurship. Last December, the local government awarded P5 million in grants to five ventures. One of the key figures leading StartUp QC is LEIPO's head Jay Gatmaitan. Before his work in government, Gatmaitan served as AVP for the Aboitiz family’s infrastructure and power arms.
Marc Olivier Caillot and Sabrina Tan
Lhoopa
In July 2023, Marc Olivier Caillot and Sabrina Tan, founders of groundbreaking real estate investment firm Lhoopa, were invited to join the prestigious Endeavor Network of high-impact global entrepreneurs. Their startup uses technology to address one of the most critical social issues of our time—affordable housing. With its proprietary technology, Lhoopa invests in property and taps its network of construction, sales, and customer management to build affordable homes, which it then sells to deserving clients. The result is high returns for investors and sustainable growth for its business. In 2022, Lhoopa was able to raise funds in its Series A round (led by Wavemaker Partners and Patamar Capital), which enabled it to expand to more cities in in the Philippines and even test the waters in Indonesia. Its goal is to deliver 4,000 affordable houses annually in the Philippines by 2025 and 8,000 by 2028.
Nate Clarke and Albert Tinio
GoTyme
One of only six licensed digital banks in the Philippines, GoTyme launched in the Philippines in 2022 and has since grown to 2.7 million customers as of the first quarter of 2024. Led by president and CEO Nate Clark and co-CEO and chief commercial officer Albert Tinio, the digital lender has been aggressive not just in attracting users but in offering more innovative products and services for them. That includes its first loan product for MSMEs in partnership with PayMongo, and, soon, dollar denominated deposit accounts and investment products as well as rewards and benefits for its debit card holders.
Jelmer Ikink
Foxmont Capital Partners
As a founding partner of Foxmont Capital Ventures, Jelmer Ikink is right in the middle of all the action. The former teaching instructor at Harvard Law School is also co-founder and former group director of MyTown (the largest asset-heavy co-living company globally) and previously worked with McKinsey and Lehman Brothers before he moved to China to engage in private equity, and eventually to the Philippines. Today he works with his VC partners in scouring the landscape for talented and driven individuals with smart, scalable business models to help take their ideas to the next level. Foxmont’s current investment portfolio reads like a who’s who of startups in the Philippines—Kumu, Edamama, Pickup Coffee, Peddlr, Nextpay, Helixpay, Etaily, Edukasyon.ph, Kraver’s Canteen, Toki, and many, many others.
Kevin Zhang
Inteluck
Data technology is lowering the prices of logistics solutions, while making operations more efficient. This is what Kevin Zhang, the founder of Inteluck, has been preaching since he founded the company in 2014. The company offers various digitally enabled logistics services including domestic full truck load transportation, warehouse management, freight forwarding, cross border transportation and other bespoke supply chain services. We already honored him in the 2023 list, but we couldn’t ignore that, in October 2023, Inteluck secured $34 million (about P1.9 billion) in a Series C round led by Navegar and East Ventures.
Kiyanusch Braun and Joaqui Palaña
GoRocky
German national Kyanusch Braun spent time as an intern at Kaya Founders and worked at Pulse 63 Healthcare Ventures before launching his great idea: a platform to help destigmatize conditions related to men’s health and to empower men to seek treatment for chronic conditions like erectile dysfunction, hair loss, and skin issues. He co-founded GoRocky with Joaqui Palaña in October 2022 that has since raised an undisclosed amount led by Ideaspace, Pulse 63 and Kaya Founders. The startup offers discreet, affordable, and accessible health treatments alongside online assessments, doctor prescriptions, and medicine deliveries.
David Bonifacio
TNB Aura
TNB Aura is a VC firm that believes in “bigger bets on fewer investments.” An investment partner of Enterprise Singapore, TNB Aura plunks down anywhere from $2 million to as much as $10 million on companies it believes have the potential to be transformative and impactful. As managing partner and country head, David Bonifacio looks after the Philippine market, helping with everything from deal sourcing and due diligence to mentoring founders. Besides his work with TNB Aura, whose portfolio of companies includes companies like AcadArena in the Philippines and various others across the region, Bonifacio was also managing director of New Leaf Ventures, and founder and CEO of venture builder Bridge Southeast Asia. He is also a writer and artist.
Justin Arcenas
RuralNet
With a background as a former BCG consultant specializing in financial services, Justin Arcenas established RuralNet with the goal of developing microinsurance programs tailored to the specific needs of everyday Filipinos. RuralNet serves as a social impact-driven insurtech startup, contributing to financial inclusion by granting low-income Filipinos access to essential insurance services.
Keenan Ugarte
Day One Capital Ventures and The Independent Investor
Keenan Ugarte has been engaged in angel investing since at least 2018, and, together with partners, founded Day One Capital Ventures three years later. Although his work as managing partner at the VC sees him working with early-stage ventures focused on the mass market (its portfolio includes companies like Digipay, Zennya, Cocopan, Builtamart, and others), Ugarte is also the driving force behind a disruptive media platform with a laser focus on the local startup ecosystem. The Independent Investor has since become a chronicler of the most consequential goings-on within the industry, with a special focus on “independent investing and independent capital,” (versus those coming from and involving large and legacy conglomerates). His team at The Independent Investor is doing great work helping amplify the stories of Philippine startup entrepreneurs to the world.
Anton Mauricio
National Development Company
The National Development Company is the state-owned investment arm that develops, finances, and implements development-oriented projects. Founded in 1919 (making it one of the oldest companies in the Philippines), the NDC is now mandated to pursue commercial, industrial, agricultural, or mining ventures to spur national economic development. As GM of the NDC, Anton Mauricio has the rank of undersecretary of the Department of Trade and Industry and has over 30 years of experience in investment, finance, and management consulting. In his 2023 speech, Mauricio highlighted some of the NDC’s accomplishments over the past year, including investments in the Philippine Innovation Hub, which is now the headquarters of the Startup Venture Fund; a vaccine manufacturing plant in Taysan, Batangas; Singapore-based Kacific Broadband Satellite Group that is, in turn, investing back into the Philippines to provide broadband satellite access to underserved communities; and many others.
Rene Cuartero
AHG Lab
Rene Cuartero is the co-founder and CEO of AHG Lab, one of the largest independent venture builders in the Philippines. Under his leadership, AHG Lab developed an ecosystem that supports startups through service organizations and accelerator programs. To date, AHG Lab now has over 20 portfolio companies, including Collo, Draper Startup House, Goodwork.ph, Doon, Talent Hero, and GoGym. Cuartero, who has had a long and impressive career in consumer marketing and private equity, also teaches finance and strategy at his alma mater De La Salle University. He is also a council member of Sinigang Valley Association.
Carlo Calimon
Startup Village
Carlo Calimon’s Linkedin page reads like someone who has lived and worked several lifetimes. He has founded and helped run several businesses over the years, including MobKard and GreenRides, helped develop entrepreneurship curriculums for the Department of Education as director of the Let’s Go Foundation; and is a sought-after speaker and business mentor for the GoNegosyo network. But perhaps his biggest contribution to the startup ecosystem in the country is as co-founder and president of Startup Village. Like the proverbial village that helps raise a child, SUV is an incubator and accelerator with a network of experts, resources, and physical workspaces that nurtures founders and gives them access to all the assistance they need so they can work on their projects and develop their great ideas. Calimon leads this village, focused on being able to teach, inspire, and encourage more people to become entrepreneurs.
Marc Concio
Kita
Kita started out as a supplier of fruits and vegetables in Metro Manila as things were starting to open up after the pandemic in 2021. Just one year later, the company was able to expand from a 20-square-meter warehouse to a sprawling 1,600-square-meter office with a temperature-controlled facility. Kita Agritech has since evolved into “the world’s first hyperlocal on-demand social commerce livelihood app;” an ecommerce platform supplying everyone from grocers and retailers with produce wholesale, providing them with added savings. The company sources its products direct from farms daily and automates the delivery process to ensure freshness every time. Co-founder and CEO Marc Concio is the former managing director for ecommerce and head of business development of Voyager Innovations, the digital unit of PLDT and Smart.
Henry Motte-Muñoz
Edge Tutor
Edge Tutor was founded by Harvard alumnus Henry Motte-Muñoz, the Filipino-French mind behind Edukasyon.ph, and whom we already honored in last year’s list. His latest venture Edge Tutor International specializes in providing high-quality English and Math tutors from the Philippines to online tutoring companies across the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Prior to founding his edutech startups, he gained experience at institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Bain Capital.
Jon Carlo Lim and Cathryn Lao
DragonFi Securities
DragonFi Securities’ goal is simple: to encourage more people to participate in the stock market. With less than one percent of the Philippine population trading in the local bourse, there is a huge opportunity for the mobile and web stock trading platform developed and co-owned by billionaire businessmen Tony Tancaktiong and Edgar “Injap” Sia. For their part, co-founder and CEO Jon Carlo Lim and co-founder and CTO Cathryn Lao are committed to make DragonFi a gateway tool for wealth-building for more Filipinos. In early 2024, the platform introduced a new feature that makes stock trading possible within the Maya app.
Camille Ang and Jiawen Tang
Hive Health
Health insurance can be quite daunting, especially in the Philippines. Hive Health is on a mission to simplify the process by offering employees of MSMEs comprehensive health plans minus the confusing systems and processes. Through Hive’s platform, employees can get access to a full suite of out-patient, in-patient, emergency, preventive, dental and maternity packages. The startup, which is backed by prestigious accelerator Y Combinator, was co-founded Camille Ang and Jiawen Tang, both of whom have impressive educational and work backgrounds. In late 2023, Hive Health announced the acquisition of leading HMO Health Plans Philippines Inc. (HPPI), whic scales up their user base considerably.
Martin Gonzalez
Martin Gonzalez plays a key role at Google, leading the development of AI research within the tech giant. Focused on the tech industry and AI, he collaborates across sectors—from startups to global leaders, helping “maverick innovators solve the people problems that are oftentimes the hardest issues they face.” With a decade at Google and a previous stint at Boston Consulting Group, Gonzalez discreetly tackles high-stakes issues, describing his work as the organizational equivalent of the CIA.
Rebecca Kersch
TANGGapp
TANGGapp is essentially a payments platform that makes international remittances and phone credit top-ups as easy and as seamless as possible. CEO and founder Rebecca Kersch was inspired to put up the company because her aunt, who is an OFW, needed a simpler, safer, and quicker way to send money back home. Founded in 2020, the app now also allows users based in the Philippines to use the app to pay bills, peer-to-peer payments and other e-payment options. The app grants users access to a bank account, which is a major win for financial inclusion in the Philippines, where a vast majority of the population is still unbanked.
Gus Poston and David Dela Paz
Netbank
Gus Poston and David Dela Paz, the co-founders of NetBank, provide full banking services and infrastructure to fintech companies, which, in turn, allow them to serve Filipinos by granting access to things like payments and opening accounts. Founded in 2021, Netbank is a banking-as-a-service platform that provides a toolkit for fintech companies (as well as non-bank networks like pawnshops, microfinance institutions, employers, etc) so they can offer complete banking services to their clients. Earlier this year, Netbank announced a partnership with Sprout Solutions to introduce salary advance services to clients. Netbank was also chosen by online installment shopping platform Akulaku Philippines to expand its loan offerings in the country.
Johnny Bondoc
Sureserv
Sureserv was founded in 2019 as a microfinance mobile app for healthcare. Users are given access to a credit line through the SureServ mobile app, which they can tap to pay for healthcare needs such as vaccines, clinic and hospital services, and medicines through the startup’s merchant and doctor partners. This process can be especially beneficial in times of emergency and funds are not readily available. Customers can use the funds from the credit line and pay for it through salary deduction. Founder Johnny Bondoc, who is a 25-year veteran of the FMCG industry, says the service started out with about 300 members at launch but expects to have exceeded its target of 50,000 members by the end of 2023.
Earl Valencia
National Innovation Council of the Philippines
Earl Valencia is a Filipino-American inventor who sits as an executive member at the National Innovation Council of the Philippines. With a background in Wall Street's tech realm and enterprise tech giants like Cisco and Dell EMC, Valencia is considered as a key player in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. He co-founded IdeaSpace and QBO, incubators with 100 over companies, as well as Plentina, an AI and fintech startup focused on accelerating access to credit in emerging markets.
Abdul Paravengal
Pulse 63 Healthcare Ventures
Pulse 63 is a VC firm with a strong preference to invest in health companies in the Philippines. Investing up to $250,000 in promising companies, the VC’s portfolio spans the entire healthcare landscape, including startups like Kindred, Mediclick, GoRocky, Life by Petto, Tealth, Earthyby, We Eat Organic, MedHyve, and many others. Besides acting as Pulse 63’s managing director, Abdul Paravengal is also the CEO and co-founder of wellness app hav., and has a solid background in venture capital across many different countries throughout his over 15-year career.
Juca Lacsina
GoEden
Juca Lacsina majored in Agronomy at the University of the Philippines and eventually pursued a Master in Business Science degree in Global Agriculture at Rutgers University. In 2020, after stints with the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and in between managing her own farm, she co-founded GoEden, a one-stop-shop ecommerce platform for the efficient delivery of agricultural inputs and services. The platform is basically a marketplace for agriculture supplies—everything from fertilizers, hydroponics products, landscaping products, plasticware like crates, seedling bags, seedling trays, seeds of fruits, rice, and vegetables to Agri machinery and plant seedling products, and many others. The platform ultimately aims to create a sustainable inter-linked agro ecosystem and provide farmers access to technology and information, particularly those in remote areas.
Wayne Jacinto
MoveIt
In his early years, Wayne Jacinto was a salesman—selling insurance products and IT components to C-level executives. But with a passion for vehicles, he craved to be on the road and found himself with Grab and eventually MoveIt. From talking to men in suits, he now speaks the language of the road, bonding with the habal-habal community and leading their transformation into full-fledged professional motorcycle taxi riders.
Veronica Eala, Isabel Regino, and Gabbi Garcia
Five Beauty
On its website, the entrepreneurs behind Five Beauty make a compelling argument: most consumers of beauty products really only need five products and five minutes to use those products before they’re ready to head out. Armed with this data, co-founders Veronica Eala, Isabel Regino, and Gabbi Garcia set out to simplify the beauty process with products that do away with single-use or seven-step routines. That means products that, for example, combine playful colors with skin-boosting benefits. Its debut product, the Hybrid Colour Stick “melts” on the skin and can be used on the eyelids, cheeks, and lips. The founders must be doing something right as Five Beauty has already attracted interest from Kaya Founders, which has included it in its portfolio.
Mario Domingo
UBX
Mario Domingo is one of the only two AI experts in the country and UBX, the open finance fintech arm of the Aboitiz family’s conglomerate, is lucky to have him on its side as its Global Chief Technology Officer. Under Domingo’s leadership, UBX started its AI strategy, incorporating different facets of it in different processes—from loan application and origination to strengthening security.
Sebastian DiGrande
Plastic Credit Exchange
The Philippines is one of the world’s worst culprits in the plastic pollution crisis. Perhaps it’s only logical that a solution should also come from here. The Plastic Credit Exchange is a global plastic waste solutions initiative founded by Nanette Medved Po (whomwe honored in last year's list) and now managed by CEO Sebastian DiGrande. A former senior partner and managing director of the Boston Consulting Group, DiGrande is leading PCX’s efforts to ultimately end plastic waste. It does this through PCX Solutions—a fully transparent, third-party audited Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard to ensure the impact and responsibility of plastic waste projects, and PCX Markets, which is a global marketplace for audited plastic waste reduction that provides seamless and traceable solutions to take responsibility for post-consumer plastics. It is addressing the plastic waste problem by activating an ecosystem of partners who collect, track, monetize, and repurpose plastic, verified through the power of blockchain technology.
Joey Ynion
Shiptek Solutions
Shiptek Solutions Corp. (XLOG) is transforming the logistics industry with next-gen technologies. Joey Ynion, the COO of Shiptek, believes in leveraging data and using AI to streamline logistics-related processes. The company developed the XLOG platform, which houses digital solutions such as digital documentation, online booking, fleet management, payment systems, tracking and tracing of shipments, container insurance, finance management, and a mobile app for truck drivers. Ynion is also a musician with a presence on platforms like TikTok, Spotify, and YouTube, where he shares his music and covers.
Hamilton Angluben
Kwik.Insure
Hamilton Angluben is no stranger to finance. His work spans from leading pawnshop Cebuana Lhuiller to digital lending app Cashalo. He later founded Kwik.Insure, the first digital insurance marketplace in the Philippines, partnering with various insurance corporations to bring insurance closer to Filipinos. It offers a whole spectrum of insurance products from health, car, life, accident, Covid-19, teleconsults, to prepaid HMOs.
Patrick and Alexandria Gentry
Sprout Solutions
Just a month after we named Patrick and Alexandria Gentry in the 2023 Startup Trailblazers List, their company, Sprout Solutions, announced that it had closed its Series B funding round with $10.7 million (around P591 million). It’s a significant achievement in a country where fundraisings at that level are few and far between. Since then, Sprout Solutions has marked other milestones, including the acquisition of the operations of JustPayroll, a leading provider of enterprise-grade payroll solutions; and bagging notable citations from the KMC Startup Awards, the Philippine HR Awards, and the Asia CEO Awards in 2023.
Niña Terol and Candice Quimpo
Imaginable Impact
Imaginable Impact bills itself as a “women-led inclusion studio that strengthens women leaders, nurtures leadership communities, and develops inclusive leadership needed to build a more equitable world.” Founded by Candice Quimpo and Niña Terol, the organization partners with leaders, organizations and communities to develop programs to encourage and inspire more women leaders to step up. One of its signature events is the Foundher Forum, where high-profile startup founders and community leaders open up about the challenges facing female-led companies and what can be done to support and nurture their growth and success.
Winsley Bangit
GCash
From being a humble mobile wallet, GCash is now a financial super app that has become an accelerator of growth for other platforms. Maximizing ad tech and data tech, GCash now has features beyond simple money transfers. Winsley Bangit, the head of new businesses at GCash, is helping lead the super app to become a major marketing platform for brands here and the 13 other countries where it also currently operates.
Shailesh Baidwan
Maya
As the group president and co-founder of Maya Bank, Shailesh Baidwan has led the company to its transition from Paymaya toward becoming an undisputed leader in digital banking in the Philippines. Today, Maya lays claim to the title of “number one digital bank in the Philippines.” As of February 2024, Maya has recorded over three million depositors (double the previous year), and a deposit balance of P25 billion, which is a 69 percent increase from 2022. According to data from the BSP released in September 2023, Maya has captured a commanding 57 percent of the total number of digital banking depositors. It has also disbursed over P22 billion in 2023, which is a stratospheric rise from the P3 billion it disbursed the year prior. Given the financial landscape in the Philippines, there is much room for it to grow.
Bernie Llamzon
Gogoro Philippines
Electric scooters are becoming a hit in the Philippines and the Ayala family wants a slice of that pie. Through a partnership made in Taiwan, the Ayalas placed a bet on the budding industry, introducing Gogoro Philippines in 2023. Leading it is veteran sales executive Bernie Llamzon, who vowed to expand Gogoro’s presence beyond Metro Manila, as he aims to revolutionize urban transportation through sustainable and smart mobility solutions.
Ragde Falcis
ChatGenie
With a background in both technology and business, Ragde Falcis founded ChatGenie in 2018, understanding that ecommerce will blow up in the future. An end-to-end store platform for businesses within Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Viber, GCash, PayMaya and other super apps, ChatGenie is a chatbot solution that allows businesses to enhance their customer engagement. In 2023, it was one of the three startups featured in the Asean-Korea Startup Week in Seoul.
Jules Veloso
Itooh Homestyle
Jules Veloso is known by many as a media and marketing maven that has helped shape discourse in various industries—from real estate to super apps. In 2021, she founded ITOOH Homestyle, a startup focusing on online furniture shopping that prioritizes Filipino craftsmanship. By combining data analytics, ecommerce, and Filipino talent and design, ITOOH Homestyle is one of the six startups selected to join the flagship IdeaSpace Accelerator Program in late 2023.
Jeffrey Reyes
Twala
With over 10 years of software development experience, Jeffrey Reyes prides himself as a tech activist, known for his enthusiasm for blockchain technology. He founded Twala, a blockchain-enabled digital identity and digital signature platform, in 2020. Three years later, Twala has been tapped by no less than the Supreme Court for its inputs on the development of an electronic notarization framework in the Philippines.
Art by Igi Talao
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