The Philippines is quietly building one of Southeast Asia’s most diverse AI startup ecosystems. While the country has long been recognised for its tech-enabled services sector, a new generation of homegrown companies is now moving up the value chain — building original AI products across logistics, healthcare, gaming, gig work, and customer experience.
From Senti AI’s decade-long work in Filipino natural language processing to newer entrants like Matcha tackling informal labour verification and Safe targeting online scam prevention, these startups reflect both the country’s unique market realities and its global ambitions. Several have already drawn backing from top-tier investors, including a16z, Y Combinator, Bain Capital, and Peak XV.
Also Read: The AI divide in the Philippines began long before AI
Here is a look at 15 emerging Philippine AI startups that are worth watching and a sign of just how much the local AI landscape has matured.
Expedock
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An AI-powered freight document automation platform serving the global supply chain industry, processing thousands of international cargo shipments weekly with 99.99 per cent accuracy. Backed by Tencent co-founder Liqing Zeng, Bain Capital, and Pear, the Stanford AI-led team is building the data infrastructure to drive efficiency and profitability across logistics. | King Alandy Dy, Rui Aguiar, Jeff Tan, and Jig Young | 2019 |
ChatGenie
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An enterprise AI customer engagement platform built around a proprietary multi-agent framework that tackles AI hallucinations through specialised agents handling intent, safety, orchestration, and quality control. Its rigorous evaluation system transitions AI chatbots from proof-of-concept to full production in as little as eight weeks, with deployments supporting clients like Angkas across 250,000 daily bookings. | Ragde Falcis and Rolando Nicomedes Jr | 2020 |
CAWIL.AI
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An industry-agnostic AI solutions provider offering custom machine learning models deployable both locally and via cloud integration. Its platform supports digital transformation across sectors including agriculture, supply chain, and environmental management, aligning with UN Sustainable Development Goals on innovation and responsible consumption. | Cherry Murillon-Cubacub | 2019 |
Tenext.ai
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| A unified AI customer experience platform that integrates voice, chat, and email agents alongside a human agent copilot into a single, multilingual system. Targeting sectors like banking, insurance, logistics, and government, it aims to deliver smarter, more consistent customer interactions across Southeast Asia and beyond. | Camille Jaurigue | 2024 |
Ludo Launchpad
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An AI-powered self-publishing platform that gives independent game developers the marketing, funding, and monetisation advantages of a traditional publisher without surrendering their IP. By enabling early audience-backed funding from prototype stage, it frees bootstrapped developers from the difficult choice between creative control and growth resources. | Jet Tanyag | 2024 |
Matcha
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An AI-native, network-based service booking platform that builds portable, verified reputation for informal workers through verified transactions and behavioural scoring. Currently in beta testing in Metro Manila with early monetisation at a 10 per cent take-rate, the company is raising a milestone-based pre-seed round beginning March 2026. | Sakura Motohashi and Misaki Motohashi | 2022 |
Safe
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An escrow app that harnesses the power of AI to proactively identify and thwart online scams within the Philippines. Safe initially focuses on social commerce, where it could meticulously analyse transactions to ensure a secure digital environment. It has plans to extend to diverse verticals, including B2B transactions, freelancing and services, the dynamic world of video gaming, and an array of other sectors. | Al Cardenas | 2023 |
Clout Kitchen
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
|
It builds creator-powered interactive gaming experiences that deepen engagement between content creators and their communities. Backed by a16z SPEEDRUN, Peak XV’s Surge, AppWorks, and other investors, the company is reshaping how gaming audiences connect with creators. |
Justin Gorriceta-Banusing, Marcel Feldkamp, Gabriel, and Adriel Yong | 2024 |
Sourcy
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| A B2B AI procurement platform and the world’s first agentic product sourcing AI for consumer brands. It automates the global trade lifecycle, from product discovery and supplier matching to instant quoting and door-to-door shipping management. | Karl Chan | 2021 |
AIFirst
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An AI community and education platform offering hands-on bootcamps and founder support to accelerate local AI development. It positions itself as a foundational hub for builders and entrepreneurs looking to lead the country’s AI transformation. | Carlo Almendral and Marco Palinar | 2022 |
Intelligent AI Solutions
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
|
An AI consultancy helping businesses navigate and implement AI technologies to optimise internal processes and enhance customer experiences. The company guides organisations through their end-to-end AI journey with a focus on practical, goal-aligned outcomes. |
Mohamed Mawji | 2023 |
Serbiz
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
|
A dual-mode AI gig marketplace where users can switch between earning as a “Hustler” or outsourcing as a “Lister,” powered by personalised AI recommendations for both sides. Its dual AI model enables real-time matching, skill discovery, income progression, and cross-border gig opportunities. |
Iyana Argañoza and Aliexandra Heart | 2024 |
Adapsense
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| An industrial AI and IoT analytics company helping businesses adopt Industry 4.0 technologies to improve operational efficiency and competitiveness. The firm advocates for the transformative potential of connected technologies across enterprises of all sizes. | Nestor Michael Tiglao and Maria Divina Patungan-Tiglao | 2019 |
Dashlabs.ai
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| A Y Combinator-backed platform that automates manual laboratory processes to help diagnostic labs operate faster and at lower cost. By reducing administrative burden, it enables labs to focus on delivering better client experiences and accelerating access to healthcare. | Bryan Giger, Martin Gomez, Weston Coleman Lim, Philly Tan, Jan Benedict Tiu, and Miguel Gemotra | 2020 |
Senti AI
| Profile | Founder(s) | Founding year |
| It is known for its multilingual social listening tool and now offering a broad range of AI solutions across industries. Home to internationally recognised NLP and machine learning researchers, the company holds partnerships with global institutions including Google and Microsoft. | Ralph Vincent Regalado | 2015 |
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