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Why Backing Filipina Founders Changes Everything

  • Writer: TINA DI CICCO
    TINA DI CICCO
  • 6 days ago
  • 3 min read
Kerubin Capital co-hosted a lunch conversation with Investing in Women, its partners, and founders to discuss the impact of gender-smart investing. Photo courtesy of Kerubin Capital.
Kerubin Capital co-hosted a lunch conversation with Investing in Women, its partners, and founders to discuss the impact of gender-smart investing. Photo courtesy of Kerubin Capital.

The Philippines is leaving an estimated $190 billion on the table.  The mistake?  Treating females in the workforce strictly as a labor issue,  rather than a capital deployment opportunity.



Increasing female labor force participation by just 0.5 percentage points annually adds $190 billion to national GDP by 2050 above baseline trends, according to the World Bank report, Overcoming Barriers to Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Philippines.


It’s a staggering number that gets quoted in policy meetings all the time. But the logic behind that number reveals an even bigger story.



It’s a Floor, Not a Ceiling


That $190 billion projection is incredibly valuable, but it is also intentionally conservative.


The model calculates economic output by projecting workforce entry at current average productivity levels. Because most new entrants historically enter standard or informal roles, the model reflects that baseline across the board.


What it actually highlights is a starting floor rather than a ceiling. It does not factor in the productivity shift that occurs when women gain access to technology, growth capital, and direct business ownership.


Broadening workforce entry drives steady, linear growth. Funding enterprise owners is what turns that baseline into compounding economic impact.



Where Capital Meets Opportunity


This is exactly the gap that Kerubin Capital is stepping in to close. As the leading catalytic capital fund in the Philippines built specifically for women founders, Kerubin treats investing in women not as a diversity checkbox, but as pure, high-upside economics.


Backed by Australia’s Investing in Women initiative, and in partnership with Manila Ange Investors’ Network, the fund has put early-stage money into women-led startups across sectors like logistics, tax compliance, and legal tech. They are proving a very specific point: when you fund a woman as a business owner instead of just hiring her as an employee, she builds differently. She scales differently, creates more resilient structures, and builds lasting market value.


Kerubin Capital isn't just trying to help the economy hit that $190 billion baseline. They are proving that when you put real growth capital into the hands of Filipina founders, the ceiling disappears entirely.




The Gender Capital Gap


If we view $190 billion as a starting line, it changes the commercial equation.


On the ground, market activity is already well established. Data from the OECD and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) confirms that over 55% of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the Philippines are led by women — with women owning roughly 58% of micro-enterprises and 50% of small enterprises. 


The primary bottleneck is not entrepreneurial initiative. It is capital access.

When economic inclusion focuses solely on expanding the labor pool, growth builds one paycheck at a time. But when capital flows directly to enterprise owners, that funding circulates immediately through local suppliers, payroll, and business expansion.


Female founders are already operating, serving active demand, and managing cash flow. They are ready for structured capital pipelines that can help transition their businesses into sustainable, mid-sized market anchors.



Inclusive Capital, Massive Opportunity


A $190 billion economic expansion is a massive opportunity sitting right in front of us, backed by capable female founders who have already proven their strength.


For investors looking closely at the region, this shift in perspective highlights two clear market advantages:


  • Backing Proven Track Records: Capital flows directly into active businesses with existing customers and proven revenue, rather than trying to build brand-new markets from scratch.


  • Unlocking Natural Upside: When baseline expectations assume businesses won't grow or innovate, providing smart funding and tools creates breakthroughs that far exceed standard forecasts.


Capturing this full potential means designing financial tools built for how local businesses actually work. By building thoughtful, gender-smart capital pipelines, private capital can connect growth-stage founders with the funding required to turn a modest economic baseline into lasting, compounding growth.




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