The Startup Ecosystem of Philippines

The Philippines has 5 cities in the top 1000 and is one of South East Asia’s best countries for setting up a startup.

COUNTRY RANKING

Since 2023, The Philippines lost 2 spots in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index, having now positioned itself as 59th worldwide.

Population

115.6
Million

Regional Ranking

6th
0
In South East Asia

Global Ranking

59th
-
2
Worldwide

Ecosystem

Startup Ecosystem Overview

city skyline under blue sky during daytime
The Philippines is making progress toward becoming a formidable startup ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region. The country enjoys a talented English speaking population, with many already working remotely for international startups. Its attractiveness to foreign entrepreneurs and digital nomads, and the massive knowledge that local remote workers have gained while working in international startups, should allow for successful ecosystem growth, provided more of the local population embraces entrepreneurship.


The country has dozens of government programs to encourage entrepreneurs, including the QBO Innovation Hub and the P3 Program. KMC, the largest co-working chain in the country, along with several startup incubation programs, are also supporting the Philippines’ startup ecosystem. The public sector is creating a regulatory framework through the Innovative Startup Act to empower early stage startups. Under this act, three types of visas are set to attract entrepreneurs, investors, and startup employees. Another public sector initiative is a recent amendment to the Foreign Investment Act . The amendment aims to encourage global SMEs to set up fully-owned businesses in the country. The public sector also supports the ecosystem with grants. For example, The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is a public sector organization that is highly involved in startup ecosystem development through grants for early-stage startups.

Nevertheless, the Philippines faces several challenges that could delay the country’s development into a fully mature startup ecosystem. The lack of infrastructure is a limiting factor to the country’s economic growth, and entrepreneurs struggle with slow regulatory support for their startups. Tackling these issues is important due to common interests from both international and local venture capitalists.

Startups

Philippines Top Startup Industries

Fintech icon
Fintech
#43 worldwide

66 startups

Foodtech icon
Foodtech
#44 worldwide

45 startups

Edtech icon
Edtech
#47 worldwide

40 startups

Ecosystem HealthCheck

Philippines Ecosystem Health Check

The health check tables allow you to look at the performance Philippines has in each of the parameters that are part of StartupBlink's ranking algorithm. There are five tables, corresponding to the three subscores, the subscore analysis and industry ana...

  • Overperformance
  • Performance equal to global ranking
  • Underperformance
ParameterParameter Global rankParameter rank change since 2022ResultContribution to total scoreRank gain / loss due to parameter
Total Score59-22.469100%0
Quantity Score57-10.49319.96%-2
Sample size of startups40-41-125519.21%1
Sample size of accelerators34-11220%0
Sample size of coworking spaces14-13840%-1
Community Score76N/A0.0180.75%0

ECOSYSTEM

Browse the startup ecosystem database of Philippines

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Ecosystem

The Startup Ecosystem in Philippines

Our startup ecosystem map for The Philippines includes a sample of 285 tech companies. We have identified as unicorns 2 startups that have passed the USD 1 billion valuations.

Global Rank

The Philippines is ranked within the top 100 startup ecosystems globally.

Top Industries

The Philippines’s startup scene is best represented in Fintech, Foodtech, and in and Edtech.

Top Cities for Startups in Philippines - Ranked by StartupBlink
StartupBlink ranks the startup ecosystems of 100 countries and 1,000 cities. Download our latest Global Startup Ecosystem Report.
Rows:
2023 National Rank & Change ▲
2023 National Rank & Change City
search leaderboards icon
Global Rank & ChangeTotal Score
Access subscores for 1000 cities and 100 countries
Quantity Score
Quality ScoreBusiness Score
1st
0
95th
+
5
7.429
00.00
00.00
00.00
2nd
0
468th
-
19
0.569
00.00
00.00
00.00
3rd
0
661st
+
47
0.296
00.00
00.00
00.00
4th
0
904th
+
48
0.148
00.00
00.00
00.00
5th
0
951st
+
8
0.131
00.00
00.00
00.00
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Startups

Notable Startups in Philippines
PayMaya startup icon
PayMaya
Coins.ph startup icon
Coins.ph
PDAX startup icon
PDAX

Startups

Successful Fintech startups in Philippines
PayMaya startup icon
PayMaya
Coins.ph startup icon
Coins.ph
PDAX startup icon
PDAX

Featured Startup Ecosystems

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