The first half of 2020 yielded substantial announced deal activity, bringing $184M in capital for startups.
The FinTech sector in particular was responsible for over 80% of the total announced invested capital in startups and almost half the deal volume in this period. This indicates that the market has been pivoting its focus and support from traditional financial services towards innovative solutions and technology-driven enhancements to processes, products, and platforms in the finance industry. Tonik, Inc is an example of a regional startup staking their claim to build the first digital-only bank in the Philippines. While the country has been overlooked in the past, it’s interesting to see a regional player setting up the first neobank in SEA here in the Philippines. With the exception of deals with private equity firms, the first half of 2020 saw over 390% more capital invested in Philippine startups as compared to the same period of the prior year despite deal volume falling by almost half.
STARTUPS ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF PHILIPPINE DIGITIZATION
