edamama founders Bela Gupta D’Souza and Nish D’Souza were selected as part of the latest global cohort of Endeavor, the premier international community for high-impact entrepreneurs. The selection was made during Endeavor’s 40th Virtual International Selection Panel (vISP) last Sept. 18–20.
15 entrepreneurs from seven innovative, high-growth ventures around the world were selected at the organization’s most recent vISP following a rigorous, multi-step evaluation process, which has a historical acceptance rate of less than 5% based on candidates screened.
Ms. D’Souza and Mr. D’Souza, founders of edamama, a leading online-to-offline parenting platform in the Philippines, stands out among Endeavor’s latest selections.
When edamama was launched in 2020, its founders set out on a mission to build a personalized, community-driven platform where families could find a trusted assortment of authentic, affordable and quality products for their children, family and home.
Three years since its launch, edamama has delivered over 3.5 million essential products to Filipino households across the country via its proprietary e-commerce app — which was one of the top 10 most downloaded shopping apps in the country last year. Due to its rapid expansion, the company has grown to become the largest online-to-offline parenting platform in the Philippines. In addition to its app, edamama hosts the largest annual family shopping and learning expo, and has also begun rolling out brick-and-mortar stores across multiple malls in Metro Manila.
To date, edamama has raised over $35 million in venture funding from leading strategic and financial investors, including Gentree Fund, anchored by the Sy family; Gokongwei Group’s Robinsons Retail; Ayala Corp.’s ACTIVE Fund and Kickstart Ventures; Foxmont Capital Partners; as well as regional heavyweights such as Alpha JWC Ventures, GS Group, and Innoven Capital, anchored by Temasek.
edamama aims to become Southeast Asia’s leading parenting brand. Made by parents for parents, edamama is dedicated to giving families access to a range of well-chosen, genuine, and competitively priced parenting products, paired with expertly written content and a well-engaged community of parents to support their journey.
With the goal of building healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems in developing and underrepresented countries, Endeavor serves as a beacon for startup founders who “dream big, scale fast, and give back.” Endeavor now supports over 2,500 entrepreneurs who are leading over 1,500 businesses in over 40 global markets.