Manila ranks 36th among top 100 emerging startup ecosystems

MANILA, Philippines — The county’s startup ecosystem ranked 36th among the world’s top 100 emerging ecosystems, according to the annual Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GESR).

The Department of Trade and Industry on Friday said this year’s GSER put the value of Manila’s startup ecosystem at $1.6 billion, with a total early stage funding of $102 million over the last two years.

It is among the startup ecosystems in their activation phase, together with Busan in Korea, Calgary in Canada, Frankfurt in Germany, and Taipei in Taiwan.

DTI secretary Ramon Lopez said that the agency continues to implement “enabling policies and strategic support programs for enterprises” as it “aggressively promotes the digitalization of business operations.”

“The DTI is committed to sustaining the growth of our thriving startup ecosystem in Manila and the whole country during this pandemic and beyond,” he said in a statement.

The agency said among Manila’s strengths as a top emerging ecosystem are its “market reach” and talent and experience.

These place Manila among the top 20 ecosystems for Bang for Buck and among the top 30 ecosystems for Affordable Talent, DTI said.

Fintech companies account for almost 15% of Manila’s startups, with a transaction value reaching approximately $10 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow by 24% in 2020, while taking into account the expected impact of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the e-commerce industry is growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 26.4%, which is one of the fastest rates in Southeast Asia.

DTI will facilitate more collaboration among members of the startup community, support the scaling up of startup enterprises, and foster their global expansion, which is in partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the Department of Science and Technology.

The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups with 250 ecosystems studied, the DTI said.

EDV