About Impact Hub Manila
IMPORTANT HONESTY NOTE, per the task's own instruction to verify rather than oversell this entry: Impact Hub Manila is NOT a capital-deploying investor in the way every other entry in this directory is. Its own website states this explicitly and unambiguously: "We back your venture — we don't run it. You keep your equity, your IP, your direction" — and no direct equity-investment or check-writing model is described anywhere on its site. It is, first and foremost, a coworking space, founder community, and program host — part of the global Impact Hub network (80+ locations across five regions, 25,000+ founders worldwide).
Impact Hub Manila was founded in 2015 by Ces Rondario and is based at the 25th Floor, Picadilly Star, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Beyond its physical coworking space, it runs structured, largely non-equity support programs — INCUBATE, AI for Good, a Climate Adaptation Track, and periodic hackathons — which it says delivered roughly ₱42 million in "incubation value" (mentorship, training, grant-supported resources, and network access, not straightforward cash investment) across its 2026 cohort. It should be listed in this directory as a genuine, real, and long-running part of the Philippine startup support ecosystem — but as a community/incubation host, not as a source of venture capital.
Investment Thesis
Impact Hub Manila supports early-stage and idea-stage Filipino founders — with a particular emphasis on social-impact, climate, and AI-for-good ventures — through coworking space, mentorship, structured incubation programs, and access to its global 100+-location Impact Hub network, rather than through direct equity checks. Its programs are described as grant-supported and free-to-apply with a rolling intake, positioning it as an accessible, low-barrier entry point for very early founders who need community, structure, and non-dilutive support before they are ready for actual investor capital — not a substitute for a seed-stage VC.