Four Philippine companies—ChatGenie, CloudEats, Kalibrr and PayMongo—are cited in Forbes Asia’s inaugural 100 to Watch List, which trains the spotlight on small firms and startups in the Asia Pacific region.
Justin Doebele, editor of Forbes Asia, said the 100 companies in the list showed “remarkable progress and impact” despite the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to the business community.
“Their inclusion on the list comes in part from addressing significant problems with innovative solutions,” Doebele said.
E-commerce and retail firm ChatGenie, which was founded just last year, integrates the online shopping platforms and Grab’s GPay and delivery services into the Facebook Messenger, allowing customers to shop through direct message.
CloudEats is a food delivery platform offering food preparation without dine-in option. Launched in 2019, the cloud kitchen—which operates 60 restaurant brands—has raised $1.8 million in funding.
Kalibrr is an artificial intelligence-backed recruitment firm serving 5 million job seekers in the Philippines and India. It has raised $7.5 million from Omidyar Network, Wavemaker and Kickstart Ventures.
PayMongo is a digital payment platform for merchants, serving around 7,000 mostly micro, small and medium enterprises. It has raised $14.7 million in funding.
The inaugural list includes companies from diverse industries, including e-commerce, retail, biotechnology, healthcare, hospitality, education and recruitment. India and Singapore have the most companies represented in the list with 22 and 19 firms, respectively.
Over 900 submissions were considered in finalizing the list. Forbes Asia sought nominations from accelerators, incubators, small and medium enterprise advocacy organizations, universities and venture capitalists, among others.
To qualify, the companies must be a year old, privately-owned, operating for profit, and based in Asia Pacific. Their latest annual revenue or total funding through August 1 must not be more than $20 million.
Among the metrics used by Forbes Asia in evaluating the nominations are “positive impact on the region or industry, a track record of strong revenue growth or ability to attract funding, promising business models or markets, and a persuasive story.”