Kaya Founders, a Philippines-based venture capital firm, said Friday it raised $12 million to support the next generation of technology-enabled, industry-shaping start-ups across Southeast Asia.
The company is targeting $25 million across two new funds to invest in pre-seed to Series A start-ups in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
The funding round was anchored by the Gokongwei family and technology solutions provider Accent Micro Technologies Inc., both key pillars of the local tech ecosystem.
It also saw the participation of other institutional investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals and prominent entrepreneurs. This brings the total committed capital managed by the firm to $16.5 million.
Kaya Founders will be particularly focused on nurturing start-ups in the Philippines, which has been at the center of attention for start-up investing in the wider region.
Founded in 2021 by veteran entrepreneurs and angel investors Paulo Campos, former chief executive Zalora Philippines; Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, president of Summit Media and senior vice president of JG Summit; and Constantin Robertz, CEO of Locad, Kaya Founders established itself as the leading early-stage investor in the Philippines.
Kaya Founders has 31 companies in its portfolio, spanning e-commerce, digital health, fintech, B2B SaaS, agritech, proptech and more. Some of its most notable portfolio companies are e-commerce enabler Etaily, salary-on-demand start-up Advance and MSME point of sale app Peddlr.
“The burgeoning tech scene in the Philippines is reminiscent of previous growth narratives seen in markets such as India in the 2000s and Indonesia over the past decade,” Campos said.
“The surge in these countries’ echnology sectors were 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,” he said.
