Our second report comes at the precipice of the Philippine digital evolution. The world has endured two straight years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Philippines specifically has dealt with rolling lockdowns in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. While the nation spent days, weeks, and even months indoors - we all began to access digital services en masse. This, combined with a rapid emergence of founders willing to tackle Philippines, has led to 2021 being a banner year for startup investments into the country. As our doors and borders open up in 2022, we step into a new startup landscape.

Startup investments now represent 12% of the total FDI into the Philippines. This is a 3000% growth from 2019 in proportion to foreign direct investments. Yet, there is still so much more to do. As of today, the Philippines has the fastest growing e-commerce industry in the world. Combined with the fact that we are the youngest population in Southeast Asia (23.8 years old), spending more time on average online per day (10 hours), with one of the fastest growing middle classes in the region - the possibilities for growth are endless. Within these pages, we present our latest statistics on the Philippines. We also undertake a deep dive with founders who explain the opportunity they see here.