Three PH startups make Forbes Asia's '100 to Watch' list
Three Philippine startups were included in Forbes Asia’s “100 to Watch” list for 2024.
In their fourth annual list, the business magazine has recognized small businesses in Asia-Pacific that “grabbed investors’ attention—and their checkbooks.” Others were recognized for their steady growth and how they raised money at the start of 2023.
The list comprises companies in space tech, enterprise technology and robotics, finance, and more.
Countries leading this year’s list include India, described as a “hotbed of startups” with 20 of its companies making it on the list, followed by Singapore with 15, mainland China with 10, Japan with 9, and Indonesia with 8.
Bringing the Philippines to the list is Lista, an app that helps Pinoys manage their finances, either for personal savings or small businesses. The app, founded in 2021 by Aaron Villegas, boasts features such as an analytics tool that tracks spending habits and cash flow and a notification to alert users to upcoming bills.
According to Forbes Asia, Lista has raised over $5 million (over P280 million) in funding and has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times. It added that the app gets 75% of its revenue from selling credit scores to consumers while the rest comes from referral fees from financial institutions.
The other Filipino startup on the list is Mober, a construction and logistics company founded by Dennis Ng in 2015 with a delivery fleet of electric vehicles. Some of their clients include Swedish furniture giant IKEA and Philippine foods producer Monde Nissin.
Meanwhile, Zed, the first neobank in the Philippines to offer a credit card, was recognized for raising $6 million (over P330 million) in seed funding led by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures in March. The app collects a share of network fees that merchants pay with each purchase, instead of charging interest or annual fees.
The magazine said the companies that made it to this year's list have collectively drawn over $2 billion in total investments to date and have shown a strong innovative streak.
The selection of companies needed to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, be privately owned for-profit ventures, and have “no more than $50 million in annual revenue and no more than $100 million in total funding through Aug. 7.
They were evaluated based on their impact on and contribution to their industry and region, market fit, promising business model, innovation, track record of consistent revenue growth, and the ability to attract funding.