MANILA, Philippines – Three fast-rising Philippine companies — Mober, Zed, and Lista — made it to the annual Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list, which spotlights startups and small companies in the Asia Pacific region.

Mober, a logistics company established in 2018, operates a fleet of all-electric vehicles. The EV delivery startup counts Ikea, Monde Nissin, and Kuehne+Nagel among its biggest clients. Chief executive officer Dennis Ng earlier told Rappler that Mober “never asks for a premium” and manages to keep its rates at the same level as other services which use diesel-run trucks.

Currently, Mober only has 60 electric trucks, but Ng has ambitious plans to bring that all the way up to 238 by early 2025. And the company is certainly attracting the capital to do so, with Singapore-based Clime Capital infusing $6 million in June 2024 to bankroll the fleet expansion and the construction of a charging facility in Pasay.

Credit card issuer Zed is also stirring up excitement as it gets ready to become the first “neobank” in the Philippines to offer a credit card. Earlier in 2024, the fintech obtained a license from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to operate as a non-bank credit card issuer. (READ: [Finterest] Credit card 101: How does it work, and which one is for you?)

Zed sets itself apart from other credit card issuers — dominated by legacy banks and industry titans — by not charging interest, annual fees, or foreign transaction fees. Zed plans to earn from a portion of the network fees paid by merchants with every purchase. As of August 27, more than 86,000 individuals have signed up in the Zed waitlist based on the company’s website. The fintech has raised $6 million in seed funding.

Financial management app Lista also notched a spot in Forbes’ list. The app is built for managing personal and business finances, with features for expense tracking, budgeting, paying off debt, setting bill reminders, and estimating a credit score. It also allows a small business to record sales and expense, and compute profit.

The Lista app has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, and the company has brought in more than $5 million in funding as well. Because the app is free to download, the company derives its revenue from selling credit scores to consumers, and referral fees from financial institutions.

Other companies with a presence in the Philippines that made the Forbes list include Singapore-based SaladStop! Group and Malaysia’s Paywatch. The SaladStop! Group, which raised $9 million in a 2021 investment round, operates 17 branches of SaladStop! and Heybo in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Paywatch has already partnered with Shangri-La Hotels and several large Philippine business process outsourcing companies to pioneer earned wage access, or “payday every day,” in the country. – Rappler.com