Manila-Based VC Kaya Founders Raises P671 Million to Invest in Local Startups

Kaya Founders, a venture capital firm based in Manila, has announced the first close of its two new funds, amounting to $12 million (approximately P671 million) in funding.

This brings the total committed capital managed by Kaya Founders to $16.5 million (approximately P923 million) for the support and funding of Philippine startups, although the VC is targeting $25 million (approximately P1.39 billion) across two funds. Funding was led by the Gokongwei family and AMTI (Accent Micro Technologies Inc.). They were joined by institutional investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and prominent entrepreneurs.

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Founded in 2021 by veteran entrepreneurs Paulo Campos, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, and Constantin Robertz, Kaya Founders has since established itself as a leading early-stage investor in the Philippines. Its portfolio includes 31 prominent and up-and-coming startups in the country, such as Etaily, Kraver’s Kanteen, PayMongo, and Peddlr. The VC’s mission is to find and fund the most promising Filipino tech startups. For the last two years, the VC has focused primarily on pre-seed stage investments under its Zero to One Fund. With the recently acquired $12 million in funding, the VC will now be expanding its focus.

To complement the Zero to One Fund, Kaya Founders’ One to Ten Fund will invest in startups ranging from seed to series A stages. These startups are expected to be more mature in nature, having already established product-market fit and a clear path to profitability.

While the Zero to One Fund will invest anywhere from $150,000 to $250,000 in 20 to 30 pre-seed startups, the One to Ten Fund will invest $250,000 to $500,000 or more in 30 to 40 mature startups.

“The Zero to One and One to Ten funds are the culmination of what each of us have individually been doing for years as some of the most active angel investors in the Philippines, and collectively over the course of the past year through our first joint investment vehicle,” said Paulo Campos. “The early momentum we have seen with our first fund is what has given us confidence to take our partnership to the next level.”

Photo by Kaya Founders.

According to a report by Foxmont Capital Partners and BCG, the Philippines has raised a record $1 billion in funding each year for the past two years and is poised to become the next hub for startup growth thanks to its young population, digitalization, and GDP growth. Campos believes that this combination has created a tech scene that is reminiscent of India’s startup scene in the 2000s and Indonesia over the past decade.

“The surge in these countries’ technology sectors was propelled by a confluence of factors, including favorable demographics and supportive government policies, but arguably no other factor played a more pivotal role than the critical mass of tech talent. The same is proving to be true for the Philippines, as new breeds of founders begin to emerge,” explained Campos.

This new breed of founders comprises executives and second generation talent from leading local tech giants like Grab, Lazada, and Zalora, as well as expats and Filipinos raised and trained abroad who plan to grow their businesses in the motherland.

Kaya Founders is led by Zalora Philippines co-founder and former CEO Paulo Campos as managing general partner; senior vice president of JG Summit Holdings Inc. and president of Summit Media Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng as a general partner; and former Lazada CEO Ray Alimurung as a general partner. Locad co-founder Constantin Robertz is Kaya's senior advisor. Together, the four veteran entrepreneurs and angel investors have decades of experience in e-commerce, digital media, and logistics.

Esquire Philippines is published by Summit Media, which is part of the Gokongwei Group.