It’s no secret that the Philippines’ startup scene remains relatively small and nascent despite the economy’s continued growth in recent years. Despite being one of the largest economies in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has consistently shown up in the bottom rankings for investment funding for tech startups. Buko Ventures comes in to help change that and support local entrepreneurs to launch new businesses in the Philippines.
Buko Ventures is a new angel investment fund for Philippines startup founders started by a team of experienced local tech founders and e-commerce executives. The fund provides investments of P250,000-500,000 for 5-10% ownership of the company for promising new businesses to support founders that need funding to launch. In general, the fund focuses on supporting new businesses, providing the first investment in some cases for a new venture, and with investment terms kept very simple so the founders can focus on building their businesses.
The fund is unique in being very open to creative business models that other investors might consider untraditional. “There are so many interesting opportunities in the Philippines, and we are very excited to see the business ideas founders are coming up with,” says one of the fund’s co-founders. “We are seeing lots of opportunities to bring technology to traditional industries and also to launch companies in new areas like content creation, social media e-commerce, and influencer marketing, among many others.”
Buko Ventures was founded by five tech executives with extensive experience in the Philippines. The group includes Andrew Koger, founder and CEO of Goodwork.ph, the largest e-commerce app for home and beauty services in the Philippines ranked as a Top 50 Startup in Southeast Asia, Saul Molla Cuesta, founder and CEO of FlowerStore Group, the biggest flowers and gifting company in Southeast Asia with operations in the Philippines and Vietnam, Angel Ramiro, Lazada Philippines VP and Head of Lazmall, Carlos Otermin Barrera COO of Lazada Philippines and EVP of the Lazada Group and George Padin, CEO and co-founder of Abstract Digital, a globally awarded tech agency, building MVPs for heavily backed startups in Southeast Asia.
With extensive experience both founding startups and working at established e-commerce technology companies, the Buko Ventures team is able to provide helpful insights and business advice to the founders they invest in. More than just a financial vehicle, Buko Ventures is also about giving founders a strong support system, connecting with a network of founders and mentors to launch a solid MVP and attract a solid seed funding round to scale the business. Simply put, Buko Ventures is built by founders, for founders. They make it their mission to help founders succeed, from founding, to funding, to scaling.
“We believe that the Philippines has so much potential to see technology and entrepreneurship open up exciting new opportunities in the economy. Across Southeast Asia, the Philippines arguably has the biggest potential upside to develop a very dynamic startup ecosystem, and we are very excited to help with Buko Ventures,” says co-founder, Koger.
The fund is actively investing now and seeking applications from startup founders. The application process is simple. Applying founders must submit a short summary of their business idea and strategy, and funding decisions are made quickly.
Learn more about Buko Ventures at bukoventures.com.
1 comment
A startup is a company that is in its early stages of operation. A startup is frequently financed by its founders and may attempt to attract outside investment until the business gets off the ground. Hoping to be part of this.