The Philippine version of Shark Tank is now expanding to cover Southeast Asia. After seven seasons of spotlighting Filipino startups and founders, The Final Pitch will now scale to represent the rest of Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem. Officially dubbed The Final Pitch ASEAN (TFPA), the show is on the lookout for the next batch of soon-to-be unicorns in the region.
The ASEAN version of the show will follow the same version as the Philippine version, which has supported over 100 startups and raised millions of dollars in funds.
"The world is looking at Southeast Asia as an emerging tech region. There are so many challenges here but there are also many opportunities. And there are a growing number of future unicorns that are being born as we speak. We are looking at expediting their exponential growth across Southeast Asia with TFPA," said John Aguilar, the creator and host of the show.
TFPA is currently looking for its first panel of investor-judges from the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
"They have to be in a position to be able to invest in high-growth companies but at the same time will serve as strategic partners for the expansion of any scale-up that wants to enter their respective countries. They have to be successfully diversified family conglomerates or seasoned investors looking at investing in mostly series A and up startups,” said Aguilar.
Given the regional scope of the show, participating startups and investor-judges will get the chance to engage in international investments, collaboration, and in some cases, expansion.
The Final Pitch ASEAN is expected to start filming in the fourth quarter of 2022. According to Aguilar, the team behind the business show hopes that the ASEAN version will introduce the format to Southeast Asian audiences and eventually result in the show being licensed in other Southeast Asian countries.
The Final Pitch episodes can be viewed on CNN Philippines or on the show’s official YouTube channel. Interested investor-judges can reach out to TFPA by emailing [email protected]
