The Manila startup ecosystem ranked high in five categories in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report (#GSER2019) released recently by Startup Genome, a provider of innovation policy advisory services, research services and content.
In the report, Manila was identified as one of the top Activation Phase Ecosystems in the world, together with Taipei City, Busan, Calgary, and Frankfurt. As a result of the assessment, Manila got the following rankings:
- Top 10 in the global ecosystem for Bang for Buck
- Top 5 in the Activation Ecosystem for Connectedness
Manila also got the following indices based on these Ecosystem Deep Dive Key Metrics: 5th scale for Exit Growth Index, 6th scale on Output Growth Index, and 9th scale on Funding Growth Index. The indices were measured in a scale of 1-10 where 10 is the highest tier of growth observed and 1 is the lowest.
It also highlighted Manila’s Subsector strength, Fintech, which comprises 15% of the Manila startups. According to the report, the Philippines’ Fintech transaction value reached about $5.7 billion last year and is expected to hit $10.5 billion by 2022.
It was reported that the First Circle, a Philippine-based financial technology lender that provides strong businesses with supply chain financing to meet larger client demands and improve bargaining position with trading partners, was able to raise $26 million in 2018.
Also, Coins.ph was acquired for $72 million this year and Voyager Innovations was acquired for $215 million in 2018.
Moreover, the Bang for Buck badge is given to companies who are getting more value for the average funding amount startups will get in the ecosystem. Specifically, Startup Genome measures this as the ratio of the average Early-Stage Funding per Startup by the average Software Engineer Salary in the ecosystem. This means, with an average funding a startup gets in this ecosystem, a startup should be able to hire more software engineers for one year.
In the Activation Ecosystem for Connectedness, Manila is included in the top 5 for Local Connectedness: meaning, there is a Sense of Community that founders informally receive help from investors, experts, and fellow founders; Founder Relationships wherein it measures the number of quality relationships between local founders; and Collision Index which assesses log of number of local tech events and density of tech events.
The Exit Growth Index measures tech startup exits in the ecosystem from 2015-2016 to 2017-2018. On the other hand, Output Growth Index assesses the total startup creation in the ecosystem, calculated in an annualized growth rate from 2014 to 2018.
Furthermore, the Funding Growth Index captures the Index of growth in early-stage funding in tech startups in the ecosystem from 2014-2015 to 2016-2017.
It was also found out that Manila has an experienced pool of tech talent with its reputable outsourcing industry, and a pool of talent from the country’s different universities, and robust English-language skills. It gives founders access to employees that are skilled and knowledgeable.
The report also highlighted the strong legal and regulatory support startups in the Philippines get through the Youth Entrepreneurship Act Program, Philippine Innovation Act, and the Innovative Startup Act. The Youth Entrepreneurship Act Program promotes finance and startup skills while the Philippine Innovation Act and the Innovative Startup Act intend to cultivate an innovative entrepreneurial culture and promote the development and growth of innovation and startups.
The inclusion of the Manila startup ecosystem in the report was made possible through the initiative of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Startup Ecosystem Development Program (SEDP), rebranded as Startup Pilipinas. This is a five-point program that aims to foster inter-enterprise linkages among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and strengthen collaborative networks.
Through this action plan, the Philippine Government aims to create high-growth and high-impact startups that will nurture innovation, sustain economic growth, and generate large-scale job opportunities.
#GSER2019 is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startup ecosystems, and offers the very first global ranking of Life Sciences ecosystems, in partnership with Hello Tomorrow. It is based on primary and secondary data from over 10,000 founders and more than one million companies across over150 cities worldwide.
To download the full report, visit https://startupgenome.com/gser2019.♦
Date of Release: 21 May 2019