Kaya Founders Secures $25 Million in Final Close to Back PH Startups
Local early stage venture capital company Kaya Founders announced that it has raised about $25 million in the final close of its fund as the firm sets its eyes on expanding its already diverse startup portfolio across industries and sectors.
Kaya Founders is seen as one of the country’s most active early stage VC firms. It is led by operators-turned-angel investors, including former Zalora Philippines chief executive officer Paulo Campos, Summit Media CEO Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, and former Lazada Philippines CEO Ray Alimurung.
This is the company’s second fund that follows a stapled structure involving its “Zero to One” Pre-seed Fund and its “One to Ten” Seed to Series A Fund. The two-pronged fund supports local founders from what the firm calls the “idea stage to growth scale.”
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Notable global investors in the fund include Gabriel and Geraldine Sunshine of Boston-based hedge fund Bracebridge Capital, Singapore-based Pavilion Capital, Chicago-based Concentric Equity Partners, as well as local family offices and technology operators. Kaya Founders in 2023 said it would be working with local tech solutions provider AMTI, which also invests in the fund.
The firm’s final close is in line with its memorandum of understanding signed with the Startup Venture Fund of the government’s investment art the National Development Company. The tie-up coincides with the early VC company’s role as the official co-investment partner of the SVF, an initiative meant to deepen public and private sector collaboration on boosting capital access for Filipino founders and startups.
“At Kaya, we’ve always believed in building the future we want to see. This fund close is more than a milestone—it’s a vote of confidence in that vision,” Campos, who is the firm's managing partner, said in a statement, commenting on the final close. “At a time when investor sentiment in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem is being tested, we’re doubling down on the Philippines."
The company is aiming to back high-growth ventures that will embody values relating to “frictionless business," the “new Filipino consumer, and “embedded credit.” It is also positioning itself as an entry point for investors into one of the region’s fastest growing tech ecosystems, especially as the funding gap has opened up in the industry caused by Indonesia’s governance crisis.
Kaya is keen on working with companies with investments typically ranging between $100,000 to $500,000.
The Philippines is poised to strengthen its position as a burgeoning hub for startup growth, posting about $1 billion in funding for startups each year in the past two years, based on a report by Foxmont Capital Partners and BCG.
But based on the 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index by StartupBlink, the Philippines dropped four spots in the annual index to 64th out of 100 countries. The country’s annual ecosystem growth rate was the lowest in Southeast Asia.
StartupBlink evaluates startup ecosystems in 100 countries and about 1,000 cities based quantity and quality of startups and their business landscape and environment. The Southeast Asian nation received a startup funding of about $273.6 million last year, based on the report.
“We see an exciting market brimming with talent, ambition, and untapped opportunities for company-building. This moment brings us one step closer to realizing the future we’re committed to creating,” says Campos.
