Jose “Joe” Maristela III, a Filipino entrepreneur and investor has just announced a new wave of investment fund amounting to one million US dollars through his venture capital firm Katalyst.PH.
Joe has a very positive outlook in the state of PH startups and has high regard for the talents and skills of Pinoy Entrepreneurs.
In order for a start-up to really grow exponentially, they need to have strong strategic partners and investors. It is only after almost a year that I found the right partner for SCI. John Park, the CEO of KVG and I simply agreed that there is a very promising future for finance in the ASEAN region and we believe that SCI will play a critical role in unearthing these potentials.
Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI) was one of the first start-ups in which Joe invested in. It started as a remittance business with its platform, Rebit.ph.
They said a start-up couldn’t take the ‘enterprise’ approach—in that I mean; many critics of SCI said that they couldn’t pull off so many products at the same time at such an early stage, but that is what’s being innovative is all about. The team of course is also a key component, with SCI, you will really see that they’re not afraid to try things; fail, learn, and adapt quickly. It’s what’s makes them a “cockroach start-up”—or a start-up that is very resilient
Another start-up where Joe invested in is Kntnt, Inc. (Kntn), which is into the digital media and advertising scene, and is also the official branding and marketing partner of industry giants such as Samsung Philippines, Singapore Airlines, and Rustan’s.
Joe believes that one million dollars will go a long way, not only for those start-ups that are in the tech business, but also for those who are non-tech which he also deems would have a great impact and will be able to engage a majority of the market within a year or two of operation.
Joe is also backed by the Manila Angel Investors Network, in which he is a co-founder. This network is spearheaded by Rene Benitez, a member of Sydney Angels and wants to replicate the group in the Philippines.
I used to do all of this heavy lifting on my own before; reporting back to my partners the progress of my venture builder office with minimal progress every week was a tough challenge, but now that I have MAIN with me, it’s been easier to access resources with due diligence. MAIN also assists me in properly assessing deals.
MAIN’s members include the Business Angel Network Southeast Asia Ltd (BANSEA), Sydney Angels and New York (NY) Angels.
Joe is always on the lookout for great opportunities. As such, if people have a big idea and think that they can make it big out there, they can always apply for funding through his venture www.katalyst.ph. When he sees great potential, he always makes it a point to get in touch with the founders and carefully assess every start-up he encounters as he uses his own money in his investments and courses it through Katalyst.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
