Startup founders in the Philippines have been seeing funding dry up in the past months. 

With this in mind, non-profit startup supporter La French Tech Manila held its flagship event, “Navigating the Startup Fundraising Journey,” to bring together established founders and investors in its advocacy to help the Philippine startup ecosystem continue to grow.

La French Tech Manila is part of the larger La French Tech organization that aims to support French startups and innovation ecosystems around the world. According to La French Tech Manila citing a report by the Gobi-Core Philippine Fund, the count of deals and the total amount raised by Philippine startups have declined by more than 21% and 40% between 2022 and 2023.

Industry leaders shared their insights and experiences regarding raising funds. These included Frederic Levy, co-founder and CEO of social commerce platform TOKI; Carl Garcia, Vice President of Rocket Equities; Joseph de Leon, Founding Member of the Manila Angel Investors Network and Priya Thachadi, Founder and CEO of Villgro Philippines and Unlock Impact. Amanda Cua, CEO of startup content and community platform Backscoop, moderated the discussion.

“We bring together industry leaders and aspiring entrepreneurs in one space to explore pathways to success through partnerships and collaboration,” Iannis Hanen, President of La French Tech Manila, said.

“As we push our values and beliefs as a group, we also recognize the value of working with like-minded individuals and groups that contribute to the growth and development of the Filipino startup community.”

La French Tech Manila’s mission is to nurture the growth of emerging ventures and engage ecosystem partners that encourage growth and collaboration. The organization’s members include Olivier Bariou, Thomas Krasnovsky, Mattieu Boquet, Yannick Legros, Ninoy Salmon, Ludovic Vallat, Rachel Ang, and Nathalia Biancci. The group plans to leverage their collective experience and expertise to guide Filipino startup founders and entrepreneurs. 

“As one of the earlier members of La French Tech Manila and a startup founder myself, I am excited to see the community grow as the group engages more startups in the Philippines,” Levy said. “Understanding the shared challenges of startup founders and entrepreneurs, it is encouraging to be part of these genuine discussions where we can impart knowledge as peers and friends in the industry.” 

Over the next few months, La French Tech Manila said it will continue to collaborate with industry leaders and other key stakeholders to aid them in their mission to launch various programs to support the growth of the Philippine startup ecosystem. In an upcoming event in June, the group will be delving into the boundless possibilities of Blockchain technology, uniting key leaders from both private and public sectors to discuss how to leverage blockchain for startup success. 

The Business Manual also supports startups and budding entrepreneurs with its annual Growth Con event, a subscriber-exclusive seminar and networking event that aims to bring together the country’s business owners, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders.