Raid The Fridge: Traction as the New Currency: Why Demand Beats Capital in Today’s Venture Market

​Funding rounds may grab headlines, but customers tell the real story. Drawing on insights from the 2025 Southeast Asia Startup Funding Report, Bit Santos, Partner, Portfolio Operations at Kickstart Ventures, explores why demand is becoming the strongest signal of startup viability and how the Philippine ecosystem can help startups translate traction into scale, while creating value across the ecosystem.

​In this session, Bit will dive deeper into:

• ​How customers are the new capital

• ​What today’s more selective capital environment means for founders and investors

• ​The role of each ecosystem player in achieving shared value across the community

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​Who Should Attend:

​Primary Audiences and Why?

• ​Startup Founders

• ​Corporates

• ​Investors

• ​Startup Enablers

• ​Academe

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About the Speaker
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​Bit is a Partner at Kickstart Ventures Inc., the Philippines’ largest corporate venture capital firm. He leads Kickstart’s Portfolio Operations team, which supports its portfolio companies by leveraging the resources, reach, and expertise of the Kickstart team, and of the many business units across Globe and Ayala. He also leads Kickstart’s initiatives in nurturing the local tech start-up ecosystem through collaboration with other startup enablers and the public sector. He has been a software product and technology leader for more than 15 years and is the de-facto “tech guy” of the Kickstart team. 

​ Prior to joining Kickstart, he was the Chief Technology Officer of OLX Philippines, an online classifieds platform company. He was primarily responsible for the product and technology strategy and operations of the Philippine team, and also worked on global and regional initiatives within the OLX Group. Bit holds a Bachelor of Science Degree, Majoring in Computer Science, from Ateneo de Manila University.

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About The Organizer
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​Kickstart Ventures owns and organizes Raid The Fridge, the longest-running monthly startup networking and learning mixer for the Philippine startup community of founders, investors, and entrepreneur-enabling organizations since August 2012.

​Driven by its vision to shape a better future, Kickstart Ventures invests in tech startups that future-proof businesses and solve real-world problems through sustainable and holistic innovation. The corporate venture capital arm of one of SEA’s leading telecom companies, Kickstart Ventures has 71 investments globally led by 130+ founders, and it advises the Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation (ACTIVE) Fund, the largest venture capital fund to come out of the Philippines.