Twelve months ago, Adrian Go was working a stable software engineering job at a Manila BPO firm, earning a comfortable salary and spending three hours a day commuting. Today, he is the co-founder and CTO of Kadiwa, a Cebu-based agricultural tech startup that has just closed a $2.1 million seed round from investors in Singapore and Tokyo.
"I moved to Cebu for the quality of life," Go says, sitting in the open co-working space his company occupies in an old colonial building in Cebu City's uptown district. "The talent is here. The cost of living is a third of Manila. And there's this energy — everyone is building something."
Cebu has always been the Philippines' second city, long in Manila's shadow despite being the country's oldest city and the hub of the Central Visayas economy. But something has shifted. A critical mass of engineers, designers, and entrepreneurs has accumulated — many of them lured from Manila or returning from stints abroad — and investors have taken notice.
The numbers are striking. Startup investment in Cebu grew by 280% between 2023 and 2025, according to data from the Philippine Startup Council. At least twelve venture-backed companies are now headquartered in the city, spanning agritech, fintech, edtech, and logistics. A government-designated "Startup Village" in the IT Park district provides subsidized office space and regulatory support.
The talent pipeline is robust. The University of San Carlos and Cebu Institute of Technology produce thousands of engineering graduates annually — graduates who increasingly choose to stay and build rather than migrate to Manila or abroad. Average developer salaries in Cebu run 30% below Metro Manila, giving local startups a significant cost advantage without sacrificing quality.
Singapore-based venture firm Kaya Ventures opened a Cebu office last year. Their managing partner, Chen Wei, is blunt about the opportunity: "We see Cebu the same way we saw Ho Chi Minh City in 2015. There's a window, and the smart money is moving now."
The challenges remain real: infrastructure gaps, bureaucratic friction, and a still-nascent local VC ecosystem mean that most funding still flows from Manila and abroad. But the momentum is undeniable.
Move over, Singapore. Cebu is building.
