Kaya Founders, a Philippine-based early-stage venture capital investor backed by Lisa Gokongwei of JG Summit, has announced raising $12 million in the first close of its two new funds, nearly half of the $25-million target.
The first close was anchored by the Gokongwei family and backed by institutional investors, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and prominent entrepreneurs, according to the announcement. It brings Kaya’s total committed capital to $16.5 million.
The new funds — Zero to One Fund and One to Ten Fund — will be sector-agnostic and will invest in tech-enabled, industry-shaping startups across Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Philippine companies.
The investment, which will focus on pre-seed and Series A startups, will range from $150,000 to $500,000. While sector-agnostic, the funds’ new investment themes include D2C eCommerce, B2B marketplaces, future of work, climate tech, and generative AI.
Zero to One Fund is a pre-seed vehicle that aims to partner with founders even before they go to market. The One to Ten Fund, on the other hand, will invest in more mature opportunities in the seed to Series A stages.
Kaya Founders was launched in 2021 by veteran entrepreneurs and angel investors Paulo Campos (former CEO, ZALORA Philippines), Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng (President, Summit Media; Senior Vice President, JG Summit), and Constantin Robertz (CEO, Locad; former CEO, Entrego).
“The Zero to One and One to Ten funds are the culmination of what each of us have individually been doing for years as some of the most active angel investors in the Philippines, and collectively over the course of the past year through our first joint investment vehicle,” Campos said.
To date, 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 include e-commerce enabler Etaily; salary-on-demand startup Advance; and MSME point of sale (POS) app Peddlr.
It recently participated in the Series A funding round of Philippine-based fintech firm Netbank.
Along with the funding announcement, Kaya Founders also disclosed the appointment of Ray Alimurong, former Lazada Philippines CEO and angel investor, as general partner of the Zero to One Fund.
The first close of Kaya Founders’ latest funds comes as early-stage deals continue to drive funding momentum in the country in Q1, according to the latest report released by DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE.
In the first three months of the year, Philippine startups raised at least $42 million in funding, all in early stages. The deals included fintech firm Advance Tech Lending’s $16-million pre-Series A round, Quasar Satellite Technologies’s $6-million seed funding, and agritech startup Mayani’s $1.7-million Seed round.