MANILA, Philippines -The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) on Monday said the local startup venture fund (SVF) ecosystem had reached about P8 billion, representing the amount of money now looking for high-potential enterprises to invest in.
Aiming to help grow and accelerate the local startup sector, the SVF Investment Committee held a community mixer event last Friday, where five accredited co-investment partners and eight startups participated, according to the DTI.
“We need the help of our co-investment partners for shepherding and accelerating the startups to encourage them to work with us and keep things on track,” said National Development Corp. (NDC) general manager and SVF investment committee chair Antonilo Mauricio.
The five co-investment partners today are Gobi-Core PH Fund, ICCP SBI Venture Partners, Real Tech Holdings, Foxmont Capital Partners and IdeaSpace Foundation.
Equity, debt financing
NDC, which is DTI’s investment arm, has allocated P500 million for equity financing while another P2 billion has been earmarked for capital financing under the P8-billion startup ecosystem, Mauricio told the Inquirer.
Meanwhile, another P500 million for equity financing has also been contributed to the SVF by Small Business Corp., DTI’s micro-financing arm.
Further, private investors have committed P300 million out of this year’s P1-billion target, while microlenders have pledged to allot another P4 billion.
“The microloans are for stakeholders of the companies—entrepreneurs, employees, farmers, fisherfolk,” said the NDC official.
The DTI has been actively promoting the startup ecosystem in the country, with its attention focused recently on the local creatives sector.
Last week, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual announced the government’s plan to establish a Creative Venture Fund and other financial support mechanisms to help local creative enterprises and workers sustain and expand their operations.
“The development of the creative economy is central to DTI’s industrialization and industrial transformation agenda, which is driven by science, technology and innovation. We at DTI endeavor to uplift the skills of Filipino artists and the quality of their outputs to be able to compete in the larger international market,” Pascual said in a statement last week.