By means of Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporter
VENTURE Capital Kickstart Ventures, Inc. aims to fund as many as five startups in the Philippines and abroad this year that focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.
“We hope to close between three and five new deals this year,” said Joan Yao, vice president of investments at Kickstart Ventures. Business world in a video interview. “We have also set aside a significant amount of capital to continue supporting our existing businesses.”
The company closed five deals last year with startups in e-commerce, retail, AI, cybersecurity and health, she added.
Kickstart Ventures was founded in 2012 as a business incubator of Globe Telecom, Inc. with a seed fund of $2.5 million (P144.8 million).
Kickstart Ventures wants to focus on AI startups to rival Globe and Ayala Corp. to help strengthen their capacity to adopt AI, Ms. Yao said. “Some things will remain the same, in the sense that I think AI will continue to be an area where there is a lot of activity, innovation and interest.”
Kickstart Ventures has around 70 companies in its portfolio, including Skillshare, edamama, Coins.ph, Kumu, Zalora and Pickup Coffee.
“We are both trying to do and invest in new things, but will continue to support the existing portfolio so that we can achieve good results and returns,” Ms Yao said.
In 2024, the Philippine startup industry saw the rise of “tech fog,” said Kickstart Ventures Vice-President of Investments Mike Maté. “Things are still a bit murky and it’s unclear what will happen in the future.”
“What we’re seeing is a bit of an overwhelming lift from the previous technology winter,” he said, referring to the slowdown in the tech industry after a period of rapid growth. “Now it’s more of a technical fog.”
‘But now that winter is kind of giving way to spring, but it’s more of a fog. In fog you know where you are going, but you really can’t see the road.”
To recover from the “tech fog,” the startup industry needs to “really get back to basics.” “So for startups, that means prioritizing unit economics and profitability and de-emphasizing the rapid growth we’ve seen,” Mr Maté said.
Many startups in Kickstart Ventures’ portfolio have “reoriented their strategies to just become more profitable and more fundamentally sound.”
Venture capitalists have focused on startups with quality fundamentals, a long cash runway and proven commercial capacity, Mr Maté said.
Financial inclusion and online-to-offline commerce provide opportunities for growth and innovation in the startup industry, Ms. Yao said.
To boost the growth of startups in the Philippines, Kickstart cited the need to improve ease of doing business, reduce red tape, improve digitalization and increase transparency.
Ms. Yao also mentioned the need for the startup community to collaborate with more academic institutions.
“I think talent goes where there’s opportunity. It’s really about convincing people that there’s opportunity here and that great things can be built.”