Kaya Founders raises $12 million to grow its home turf in Southeast Asia

In the Philippines, the usage of Internet services is growing rapidly, and the pandemic is depriving the country's youthful, affluent population to embrace new habits. These factors have led to a rapid expansion of the Philippine startup ecosystem.

Over $1 billion yearly has been invested in startups in the last two years. One of the contributors to this huge amount is Kaya Founders, a leading venture capital in the country. The firm has now successfully raised $12 million in funding for two new funds that will invest in tech startups in Southeast Asia, especially on its home turf. 

Kaya Founders’ two new funds are the Zero to One Fund – targeting pre-seed startups – and the One to Ten Fund, which focuses on seed to series A startups.

With this funding led by the Gokongwei family, one of the country’s largest business groups, the firm now has $16.5 million in committed capital and looks to bump that up to $25 million in the next two years.

Kaya Founders was founded in 2021 by Paulo Campos, Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng, and Constantin Robertz – experienced entrepreneurs and investors in sectors like e-commerce, media, and logistics. It has backed 31 startups so far in various sectors such as digital health, fintech, B2B SaaS, agritech, and proptech.