Endeavor Philippines wraps Scale Up Cohort 5, marking fundraising wins, regional expansion, and a new bar for founder-led growth

Manila, Philippines, March 2026 —

Endeavor Philippines has officially concluded the fifth cohort of Scale Up by Endeavor, closing out six months of curated mentorship, peer learning, and hands-on strategic support for 11 high-growth Philippine companies.

Launched in September 2025, Scale Up Cohort 5 brought together founders across technology, consumer, mobility, sustainability, and other high growth sectors, each selected for their growth momentum and readiness to tackle the challenges of scaling. By program close, the cohort had navigated key inflection points across fundraising, business development, hiring, go-to-market strategy, governance, regional expansion, and operational execution.

More than a traditional accelerator, Scale Up is designed as a curated growth platform for founders at critical stages of their journey. While the program brings founders together through shared learning experiences, its strength lies in the individualized support Endeavor provides to each company, from strategic introductions and partner access to investor readiness, commercial opportunities, and connections across Endeavor’s global network.

Expert-led support and founder-to-founder learning

Throughout the cohort, founders were connected with senior practitioners from Bain & Company and EY Philippines / SGV & Co., who provided hands-on guidance on the operational, financial, strategic, and organizational challenges of scaling. These focus sessions covered areas such as strategy, corporate finance, governance, organizational design, and operational readiness, translating global best practices into practical, founder-relevant action.

Founders also gained firsthand exposure to what scaling operations looks like in practice through founder-to-founder learning sessions. One highlight was a site visit to the Bulacan fulfillment center of Great Deals E-Commerce Corp., led by Endeavor Entrepreneur Steve Sy, who walked the cohort through the realities of logistics execution, operational discipline, and scale-up leadership.

Beyond the local network, Endeavor Philippines connected cohort founders with Endeavor Entrepreneurs, mentors, and partners across the broader Asia Pacific region and the Middle East, giving them access to global perspectives, market insights, and founder-to-founder learning from entrepreneurs who have scaled companies in different operating environments.

This founder-led learning model is central to Endeavor’s broader belief in the Multiplier Effect, where experienced entrepreneurs pay it forward by helping the next generation of founders dream bigger, scale faster, and build enduring companies.

Tangible outcomes across funding, market access, and regional growth

During the program period, Endeavor Philippines supported cohort founders across several growth priorities, including capital raising, business development, regional expansion, strategic partnerships, and visibility-building.

• Two startups successfully raised north of USD $500,000, advancing their funding trajectories at a critical stage of growth.
• Two other startups secured admission into global accelerators, opening doors to international networks, capital, mentorship, and market access.
• One cohort company also expanded into Malaysia, with Endeavor Philippines supporting its market entry by helping the company incorporate in the region and connect with key partners in-market.

Scale Up also helped founders unlock business development opportunities by facilitating introductions to potential customers, commercial partners, and strategic collaborators. These connections were designed to help companies validate new growth channels, explore revenue opportunities, and build relationships that could support their next stage of scale.

Cohort founders were also plugged into Endeavor’s broader platforms, including MatchCAP in Singapore, Endeavor’s curated investor-founder matchmaking program that connects high-growth companies with leading investors across Singapore and the wider APAC region. It is a program built around the individual founder journey.

While Scale Up is anchored by cohort-wide programming, Endeavor Philippines places equal emphasis on each founder’s individual journey. For every company, support is shaped around its most urgent priorities, whether that means refining a fundraising narrative, opening doors to commercial partners, connecting with experienced operators, exploring new markets, or strengthening its visibility in the ecosystem.

“Cohort 5 set a new standard for what Scale Up can be,” said Arvin Martin Santos, Program Lead for Scale Up, Endeavor Philippines. “What made this cohort special was not only the milestones the founders achieved, but the way each company grew through the community built around them. Scale Up is about meeting founders where they are, helping them see what is possible at their next stage of growth, and surrounding them with the people and opportunities that can help them get there. The most meaningful outcome is not just seeing founders scale, but seeing them grow into the kind of entrepreneurs who will one day open doors for others. That is how strong entrepreneurial communities are built, and that is the Multiplier Effect in action.”

Now in its fifth year, Scale Up by Endeavor has supported a total of 29 companies, cementing its role as a key accelerator for the next generation of Philippine growth-stage founders.

Applications for Scale Up Cohort 6 will open in due course. To learn more, visit philippines.endeavor.org/scaleup.