Franco Varona, who co-founded Foxmont Capital Partners, explains why the Philippines is worth investing in and how to tell if a tech startup is worth an investment
Franco Varona is a prolific name in the Philippine startup scene. Part of the 2023 Gen.T Tribe, the panel of industry experts that decide who makes it to this year’s Tatler Gen.T List, he is also the co-founder and managing partner of early-stage venture capital firm, Foxmont Capital Partners. The company has under its belt an impressive portfolio of the country’s most recognisable technology startups. These include food and lifestyle partner, Booky, popular cloud kitchen, Kraver’s Canteen, and coffee behemoth, Pickup Coffee.
“Our fund’s philosophy is being a fund for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs,” says Varona. “The value of having a local VC on board is that we understand first-hand the entrepreneurial challenges in the Philippines.”
Below, Varona shares his optimistic outlook on the Philippine economy and how Foxmont Capital Partners is providing Filipino solutions to Filipino problems.
How did you get into venture capital and what do you enjoy about it?
Franco Varona (FV): We started the fund in 2018, after realising that there was a large gap in the Filipino startup ecosystem—the lack of independent venture capital. The ecosystem was previously dominated by corporate-linked venture capital firms. Independent venture capital means entrepreneurs and founders have more choice in how they raise their money and capital can be given for unrestricted growth.
I see venture capital funding as nation-building. We empower entrepreneurs to build their businesses. These businesses then allow for hundreds or even thousands of employees to be hired, for customers to be empowered with more choices, or for businesses to have more services available to them. All of this helps contribute to the growth of our economy. As a firm, we provide value to all our stakeholders: to our founders, our limited partners and the greater ecosystem as a whole. This makes me sleep extremely well at night.
What principles guide your investments?
FV: The Philippines is by and large a consumer-driven economy. Because of that, we tend to currently favour consumer-facing businesses. Two great examples are Pickup Coffee, co-founded by 2023 Gen.T honouree Jaime González Fernández, and Colourette, founded by 2022 Gen.T honouree Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera.
However, we do understand that emerging markets generally follow the same trend. First, the consumer must trust new local brands. Next, the consumer brings that trust to their SMEs and enterprise businesses. Thus, we always look ahead to the next steps. We foresee that in the near future, there will be more B2B or SaaS-type businesses coming out of the Philippines.
Read now: Gen.T List 2023: Meet the 40 young leaders from the Philippines