Kaya Founders, a Philippines-based early-stage venture capital investor, is launching a series of events in the US this month with the goal of attracting FilAm talents to the Philippine tech ecosystem.
Raya Buensuceso, Managing Director of Kaya Founders, said there is a huge opportunity to build a bridge between the Philippine and the Philippine diaspora, starting with the Bay Area, which, she said, is the heart of tech innovation.
“We want to be able to facilitate the exchange of talent and capital between the Philippines and the PH diaspora. There are so many talented FilAms wanting to give back to their motherland, in the form of both their skills and investment,” Buensuceso added.
She said Kaya Founders was encouraged to keep planning more overseas events following Managing Partner Paulo Campos‘ engaging discourse on the burgeoning startup landscape in the Philippines at Stanford University.
Campos’ panel discussion, titled “The Startup Ecosystem of the Philippines: Current Trends and Opportunities,” offered valuable insights into the dynamic startup ecosystem of the Philippines.
Joining Campos on the panel were Fourth Realm VC Co-Founder and General Partner Kendrick Geluz Kho and Alquemie Ventures LLC Principal Christina Laskowski.
“We’ve done variations of these events in the past, including last month when Paulo went to San Francisco. The success of Paulo’s trip is what encouraged us to keep planning more overseas,” Buensuceso said.
The Kaya Founders events will start on July 8 at Stanford, where the firm’s general partner, Ray Alimurung, and investment director, Toby Floro, will host a talk on “Making an Impact in the Philippines”.
The talk will focus on insights on how investing in startups in the Philippines can drive positive change and shape the country’s future, according to the announcement.
A private dinner in Los Angeles will follow on July 11, with a focus on the transformative power of investing in emerging markets such as the Philippines.
On the same day, Kaya will host Salesbricks’ Jon Festejo to discuss the intricacies of balancing product-led and sales-led growth when building a B2B playbook.
Entrepreneur-in-residence Gabby Ayala and Hyperparameter GP Kendrick Ho are breaking down the “2024 Artificial Intelligence Stack” and sharing the global investment landscape to AI and where the Filipino ecosystem falls within all of these on July 18.
Another private dinner will be hosted on July 18 to establish the investment potential of the Philippine market and to discuss the dynamics of the country.
Kaya Founders, founded in 2021, has 44 companies in its portfolio to date, spanning a wide range of sectors including e-commerce, software as a service, healthcare, financial services, agriculture, and more.
Its portfolio includes e-commerce enabler Etaily; cloud logistics platform Locad; salary on-demand provider Advance; global plastic credits marketplace Plastic Credit Exchange; and microinsurance platform RuralNet.
In March, the firm announced raising P1 billion in the second close of its two new funds – Zero to One Fund and One to Ten Fund.
What a shame! The Philippines already have so many unemployed talents, and yet they want someone from outside the country.