Kaya Founders, a venture capital firm based in the Philippines, announced the final close of its US$25 million fund. The fund is dedicated to investing in Filipino and regional founders developing technology-driven solutions for the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
Kaya Founders is led by operators-turned-angel investors Paulo Campos (ex-CEO, Zalora Philippines), Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng (CEO, Summit Media), and Ray Alimurung (ex-CEO, Lazada Philippines). The firm states that it is currently the most active early-stage VC fund in the Philippines.
The fund is structured into two parts: a “Zero to One” Pre-seed Fund and a “One to Ten” Seed to Series A Fund, designed to provide support from a startup’s initial idea through its growth phase. Investors in the fund include a mix of local and international partners such as Singapore-based Pavilion Capital, Gabriel and Geraldine Sunshine of Boston-based hedge fund Bracebridge Capital, and Chicago-based Concentric Equity Partners, alongside local family offices and technology operators. Local technology solutions provider AMTI serves as an anchor investor.
Since its founding in 2021, Kaya Founders has built a portfolio of over 40 startups across various sectors, including e-commerce, fintech, education, and healthcare. Notable portfolio companies include e-commerce enabler Etaily, cloud logistics platform Locad, banking-as-a-service provider Netbank, and payments provider PayMongo. With this second fund, the firm intends to back an additional 10 to 20 startups across the Philippines and Southeast Asia over the next three years.
Kaya Founders has made recent investments focusing on financial inclusion and sustainability, including:
- Datung, which uses AI-powered credit scoring and community-based lending for MSMEs
- ProTech, an insurtech firm offering embedded device protection
- LenderLink, which is building a credit data marketplace
- SunFund, which facilitates solar energy adoption for households and SMEs through a monthly subscription model.
The announcement of the fund’s final close coincides with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Startup Venture Fund (SVF) of the National Development Company (NDC), an investment arm of the Philippine government. This partnership builds on Kaya’s appointment as an official co-investment partner of the SVF and aims to increase capital access for Filipino startups.
The firm noted that the regional funding environment is normalizing, and a funding gap has emerged across Southeast Asia, presenting an opportunity for focused early-stage investment. Kaya Founders will continue to prioritize high-growth ventures within its core investment areas: “Frictionless Business,” the “New Filipino Consumer,” and “Embedded Credit.”
“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. At a time when investor sentiment in Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem is being tested, we’re doubling down on the Philippines. 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 Founding Managing General Partner Paulo Campos.