Tech news from The Philippines for Q3 of 2024 – spanning July, August & September – touched on Filipino tech and startup items including: a Philippines blockchain system for digital credentials, focusing on education; the Philippines central bank’s changing position on digital banking; The Philippines’ moves towards a digital tax on overseas platforms, both to raise tax income and to safeguard local Filipino businesses; and more.
September 2024: Philippines tech news
August 2024: Philippines tech news
July 2024: Philippines tech news
GITEX Asia Tech Conference & Expo: April 2025 in Singapore
Filipino Tech: September 2024
- Startups in the Philippines set to gain with SEA-focused VC firm, TNB Aura, planning to invest around $30M over 3 years in promising firms / read in full
- DOON peer-to-peer car-share platform secures $1.5M pre-seed funding, looking to boost presence in key cities and tourist destinations across the country / read in full
A video interview intro to Malaysia’s Carching, which recently launched in The Philippines / watch on YouTube
- Philippines’ franchise holder of McDonald’s partners India’s Tata Consultancy Services for cloud-focused upgrade of more than 760 restaurants. / read in full
- Advance salary-on-demand startup inks $1.8M agreement with Cebuana Lhuillier for credit lines for MSMEs in need of capital / read in full
- Philippines Science High School has introduced Pisay-DigiCert, a blockchain-based system for portable digital credentials. / read in full
- Malaysia’s Carching Ventures launches in the Philippines to help drivers earn from product ads while driving / read in full
- “Agri-Tech startup SariSuki has partnered with Super8 retail grocery to sell locally-procured farm produce… at a price that is 40% lower that prevailing supermarket prices.” / read in full
- Zed, a credit-led neobank, recently introduced the Philippines’ first credit card without foreign transaction fees, interest charges or annual fees… / read in full
- Central bank finds the country’s 6 digi-banks attracted 8.7M depositors as of June 2024, significantly larger than 3.6M depositors of 1 year ago / read in full
- New Zealand: Checkmate pre-employment screening startup lands $1.6M seed funding, targeting markets including Australia and The Philippines / read in full
Cushman & Wakefield: Asia Pacific Data Centers in H1 2024
Philippines tech: August 2024
- Podcast: Kickstart Ventures senior representatives share insights on what’s fueling growth for tech and fintech entrepreneurs in The Philippines / read in full
- 3 Filipino tech startups featured in Forbes Asia’s 2024 ‘100 to Watch’ list, working in fintech, financial services and electric trucks / read in full
- The Philippines’ central bank lifts moratorium on digital banks in bid to boost financial inclusion and access to digital services / read in full
- Elevate fintech secures $5M to launch USD payments and accounts for Filipino freelancers, overseas workers and expats / read in full
- A brief intro to 6 startups from cohort 2 of the Block Dojo Philippines incubator, working in prop-tech, fitness and more / read in full
- “315,000 compromised credentials, 17,456 phishing attacks, and numerous vulnerabilities are just some of the alarming statistics… in the first half of 2024” / read in full
- Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to take 8% stake in Philippines’ GCash for $393M, valuing the company at $5BN / read in full
- Japan’s Zip Infrastructure approved for feasibility survey for ‘sky tram’ autonomous aerial tramway in mountain resort city of Baguio / read in full
- Available now: ‘Leveraging Fintech for Women Entrepreneurs in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam‘, a July report from the Asian Development Bank / read in full
Lowy Institute: Asia Power Index 2024 report findings
Philippines tech news: July 2024
- An overview of Science & Entrepreneurship Training Program – SCENT – a 6-month program to equip undergrads and grad students with a Japanese-style business mindset / read in full
- Packworks, B2B marketplace and service provider to small ‘sari-sari’ stores, gains $60K Dept of Science & Tech grant to explore AI and ML use in inventory and marketing / read in full
- An overview of moves to digitize the sari-sari stores economy, a sector through which near 70% of manufactured goods are distributed / read in full
- Bank of the Philippine Islands’ BPI Foundation launches 3rd edition of Small Enterprise Acceleration Lab – SEAL – Program, adding Business Education & Growth Initiative for Nano-entrepreneurs / read in full
- An intro to Toki, focusing on digital collectibles and offering over 100K items for sale in live auctions, now looking at K-Pop, fashion and luxury sectors / read in full
- International Fund for Public Interest Media has launched a new grant program to support selected media outlets in the Philippines over the next three years / read in full
- An overview of the DTI’s economic blueprint to develop the Philippines as a global powerhouse, with tech and startups as key drivers / read in full
- ‘Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Philippines – Network Analysis and Mapping of Institutions Supporting Youth Entrepreneurship‘ report now available to download / read in full
- Global private equity major, KKR & Co, is to invest $400M in telecoms tower operations and expansion in the Philippines, acquiring near 2000 towers in the deal / read in full
- Lawmakers have approved a bill proposing 12% tax on foreign digital services including streaming services like Netflix, aiming to safeguard domestic firms whilst boosting revenue / read in full
- Japan to help Philippines with 5G as alternative to Chinese tech for Indo-Pacific infrastructure, building on Palau and Cambodia initiatives, potentially later adding Indonesia and Vietnam / read in full
GITEX Asia Tech Voices: News, articles, commentary, industry coverage…
Weekly newsletters
For a one-shot round-up of each week’s technology news headlines, gathered across Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific, you should read Asia’s Tech News, Weekly, the Startup News Asia newsletter, on LinkedIn and via Substack.
