California-based Filipino angel and independent investor, Jose “Joe” Maristela III announced through his venture capital firm, Katalyst.PH, a new wave of investment fund amounting to one million US dollars (USD1,000,000).
Investment for PH Start-ups
In the Philippine startup scene, despite the emergence of local startup accelerators, innovation hubs, venture capitalists (VCs), and angel investors, the ecosystem still faces many obstacles.
Very limited capital is injected to PH as compared to other markets.
The government roadmap in creating 500 startups with total funding of US$200 million and valuation of US$2 billion by 2020 is quite a stretch.
But it is not impossible because of the limitless possibilities tech start-ups have.
Joe’s outlook in the Philippines start-up economy is very positive adding to his high regard for the talents and skills of Filipino entrepreneurs.
A series of investment rounds coming from his pocket is imminent.
With Satoshi Citadel Industries’ (SCI) recent undisclosed amount of seed funding from Korean web giant Kakao’s venture capital arm KVG, Maristela is currently driven to replicate this through the new wave of investment fund he is putting in.
By Shiela Reyes – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
“In order for a start-up to really grow exponentially, they need to have strong strategic partners and investors. It is only after almost a year that I found the right partner for SCI. John Park, the CEO of KVG and I simply agreed that there is a very promising future for finance in the ASEAN region and we believe that SCI will play a critical role in unearthing these potentials,” said Maristela.
SCI is one of the first start-ups he invested in that started out as a remittance business through its platform, Rebit.ph. It now continuously strengthens its list of products and services and well on its way with a clear roadmap, a clear market and a new strategic partner.
Other investments in Philippine-based start-ups
Corporate venture partner, 500 Startups, saw a big potential for growth in one of Maristela’s venture: Qwikwire, where he was second to invest. Kntnt, Inc. (Kntn), another start-up where Maristela poured in some fund is making it big in the digital media and marketing space. Kntnt is earning a reputation for being able to close blue chip accounts in its first few months of operation making the company the official branding and marketing partner of industry giants like Samsung Philippines, Singapore Airlines, and Rustan’s.
Aside from angel investing, his thrust is also geared towards helping the government develop a startup ecosystem for an inclusive economy — making sure that there is a chance for every aspiring entrepreneur in the Philippines to make it big.
