Four Philippine businesses included in inaugural Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list

Four Philippine companies were included in the inaugural Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, which puts together notable small companies and startups on the rise across the region.

The list features companies involved in biotechnology and healthcare, e-commerce and retail, food and hospitality, and education and recruitment.

To be considered for the list, companies have to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, at least a year old, privately owned, for profit, and have a maximum of $20 million in its latest annual revenue or total funding.

“Companies on the 100 to Watch list are making remarkable progress and impact in spite of the challenging climate brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Forbes Asia Editor Justin Doebele said in an emailed statement.

“Their inclusion on the list comes in part from addressing significant problems with innovative solutions,” he added.

A total of 17 countries and territories are represented in the list, with India producing 22, Singapore with 19, Hong Kong with 10, Indonesia with eight, and China with four.

Below are the listees from the Philippines, and their respective writeups:

• ?ChatGenie

E-commerce and retail

Founded in 2020; CEO: Ragde Falcis

ChatGenie combines online shopping platforms and Grab’s GPay and delivery into the Facebook Messenger interface to allow customers to shop by direct message. It was launched a month before Manila’s first pandemic lockdown.

• CloudEats

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Food and hospitality

Founded in 2019; CEO: Kimberly Yao

CloudEats’ secret sauce is its cost efficiency—operating 60 restaurant brands out of versatile “cloud kitchens.” It is also developing its own brands and tailors recipes and concepts based on customer feedback. Cloudeats says it has raised $1.8 million in funding off its lightning-fast scaling, with another round scheduled to close this year.

• Kalibrr

Education and recruitment

Founded in 2013; CEO: Paul Rivera

AI-powered recruitment company Kalibrr says it serves 5 million job seekers in Indonesia and the Philippines, looking to make the hiring process simpler, faster and better for companies and applicants. According to the company, it has raised $7.5 million from Omidyar Network, Wavemaker and Kickstart Ventures. It was the first Filipino company to be accepted by Y Combinator.

• PayMongo Philippines

Finance

Founded in 2019; CEO: Francis Plaza

PayMongo’s digital platform for merchants accepts all types of online payments. It says it serves around 7,000 mostly micro, small and midsized companies moving beyond brick-and-mortar stores to e-commerce. PayMongo is backed by Y Combinator and says it has raised $14.7 million in funding.

—AOL, GMA News