The Private Sector Advisory Council is raising a clear warning. In a recent meeting with the Department of Trade and Industry, PSAC said the Philippine startup scene is slipping behind Southeast Asian peers, not for lack of ideas but for lack of capital that actually moves.
In documents shown to Context.PH, the council proposed expanding the government’s Startup Venture Fund beginning 2027, with a minimum target of USD100 million, or roughly P6 billion. Funding could come via the DTI’s General Appropriations Act budget or the Maharlika Investment Fund, with the goal of keeping the country regionally and globally competitive.
PSAC urged the DTI, National Development Company, Department of Finance, and Department of Budget and Management to fully appropriate and deploy funds mandated under the Innovative Startup Act. It also called for closer collaboration with private venture capital firms to speed up investment timelines and improve execution.
For the near term, the council pushed for urgency. By 2026, it said the NDC Board and the SVF Investment Committee should fast-track deployment of the P500 million already advanced by NDC, primarily by fully exercising the fund’s role as a fund-of-funds and channeling investments through Philippines-focused VC firms.
The data explain the concern. Since its creation in 2021, only about 3 percent, or P16.7 million, of the SVF has been deployed, supporting just two startups. As a result, the Philippines accounts for only around 5 percent of total equity funding in Southeast Asia.
PSAC pointed to international examples where early, decisive public capital helped crowd in private investment. Singapore’s Early Stage Venture Fund anchored 10 local VC funds with SGD150 million between 2008 and 2016, helping the city-state capture about 70 percent of Southeast Asia’s startup activity. Israel’s Yozma program, launched in 1993 with USD100 million, seeded private VC funds and laid the groundwork for globally recognized tech firms.
Execution at home has been uneven. A source familiar with the matter said the SVF was funded with an initial P500 million allocation in 2021, in the absence of a long-term replenishment mechanism, and has not been topped up since. The fund has invested about USD300,000 in two startups: SolX Technologies and Humble Sustainability.
SolX received P11 million from SVF alongside private funding to expand its platform that allows companies to source electricity directly from suppliers and reduce power costs. Humble Sustainability secured government participation through NDC in a pre-Series A round to scale its circular economy and climate technology solutions in Southeast Asia. Four additional startup applications are reportedly in the pipeline.
The SVF’s mandate is to co-invest with private capital, support seed- to Series B-stage startups, and strengthen sectors such as agritech, edtech, and fintech. PSAC’s message is equally direct: without faster deployment and larger, sustained funding, the Philippines risks losing momentum in a region where speed and scale increasingly define success.
