About Gobi Partners
Gobi Partners is a Pan-Asian venture capital firm founded in 2002, with roughly US$1.5-1.6 billion in assets under management and investments in more than 350 startups across 15+ Asian markets, including several unicorns.
In the Philippines, Gobi Partners operates through Gobi-Core Philippine Fund, a joint venture founded in 2018 with local firm Core Capital (founding partners Jason Gaisano, Ken Ngo, and Carlo Chen-Delantar), headquartered in Manila.
In 2023, Gobi-Core became one of the first firms officially accredited as a Co-Investment Partner of the Philippine government's Startup Venture Fund, a joint DTI-NDC initiative with a US$10 million allocation under RA 11337.
Investment Thesis
Gobi-Core Philippine Fund backs Filipino tech entrepreneurs from pre-seed through pre-Series A, describing its mandate as building "for Filipinos, by Filipinos." Sector interest spans healthcare, edtech, consumer, AI, fintech, digital marketing, e-commerce, esports, financial services, food and beverage, internet solutions, social media, and waste management/circular economy.
As a Co-Investment Partner of the Philippine government's Startup Venture Fund, Gobi-Core also channels public co-investment capital alongside its own fund into qualifying local startups, positioning it as one of the more government-integrated VC vehicles focused specifically on the Philippine market.
Portfolio Companies
Tier One Entertainment, Kumu, Etaily, CloudEats, FlowerStore.ph