ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider The Stock Market devider Three Filipino firms named to Forbes Asia's '100 to Watch' list

Three Filipino firms named to Forbes Asia's '100 to Watch' list

Published Aug 26, 2025 03:32 pm
Three Filipino companies, engaged in consumer technology, e-commerce, and finance, made it to Forbes Asia’s the fifth annual edition of the 100 to Watch list, which spotlights small companies and startups on the rise across the Asia- Pacific region.
The three Filipino firms in the list are: Enstack
Philippines in the E-commerce & Retail category, Netbank which is in Finance, and Xpress Super App
Philippines in the Consumer Technology category.
“Our fifth annual Forbes Asia 100 To Watch list showcases a range of innovative startups in fields including biotech, spacetech and green tech,” said Forbes Asia Rana Wehbe Watson.
Watson noted that, “They are utilizing advanced technologies like AI to enhance their products, which include gene-editing tools and propulsion systems for spacecraft.
“As a clear indication of their potential, these 100 startups have raised a combined total of nearly $3 billion in funding to date.”
Enstack’s target customers are small and midsized businesses wanting to build an online retail presence. Its AI-assisted app can be used to design web stores, including logos, and even writes product blurbs.
Building on founder Macy Castillo’s experience at e-commerce giants Shopee and Zalora Philippines, the app also helps its clients manage invoices and payments, ship packages and track inventory.
Enstack has been downloaded more than 100,000 times from Google Play and expanded this year into Thailand. It has raised $3 million in total funding from a range of backers including Xendit, Mangrove Capital Partners, BlackPine and Unifier Ventures.
Netbank offers digital financial services including loan management, payments and disbursements, via a rural bank it acquired in 2019, for the Philippines’ fast-growing fintech community and other businesses.
It counts Smart Money, TikTok and Lazada as clients and backers include Beenext and Kaya Founders. In the first half of this year, NetBank swung to a net profit of ₱22.2 million from a loss of ₱34.9 million, thanks to strong loan growth and a rise in deposits.
Xpress Super App offers ride-hailing, delivery and courier services via its app, with plans to add flight and ferry bookings, reservations for activities and a digital payment option.
Cofounded by Jean Henri Lhuillier, president and CEO of PJ Lhuillier Group, and AppFactorie founder Nathan Taylor, Xpress rolled out 40 BYD electric and hybrid vehicles for hire in May with plans to further expand its green fleet.
Through the group’s financing arm, drivers can access loans to own their EV. The app has over 100,000 downloads in Google Play, while a separate app to support its driver community has over 10,000 installs.
The 100 to Watch list offers a window into the vibrant world of startups and small companies in the Asia-Pacific region. A total of 16 countries and territories are represented on this year’s list.
India leads the pack with 18 companies, followed by Singapore and Japan (14 each), China (nine), Indonesia and South Korea (eight each) and Australia (seven).
Companies on the list are grouped under ten industry categories with the largest cohort (18) in biotechnology and healthcare followed by enterprise technology and robotics (16).
For the selection of the 100 to Watch list, Forbes Asia solicited online submissions, and invited accelerators, incubators, universities, venture capitalists and others to nominate companies as well.
To qualify for consideration, companies had to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, be privately owned for-profit ventures, and have no more than $50 million in annual revenue and no more than $100 million in total funding through August 15.
Forbes Asia editors evaluated each submission, weighing factors such as impact on and contribution to their industry and region, market fit, promising business model, innovation, track record of consistent revenue growth and the ability to attract funding.
For the complete 100 to Watch list, please visit www.forbes.com/100toWatch

Related Tags

Forbes Asia 100 to Watch
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.