Program has mentored 150+ Filipino founders and supported more than 100 homegrown brands
MANILA, Philippines — Launching an online store may be easier than ever, but building a business that can survive beyond its first sales is where many aspiring founders face their biggest challenges.
That is the gap LaunchStrong aims to address as the Philippine-founded e-commerce mentorship program marks its first year after mentoring more than 150 first-time Filipino founders.
Founded in 2025 by entrepreneur Jungie Gumiran, LaunchStrong is a five-week live mentorship program that helps aspiring entrepreneurs navigate the practical decisions involved in building an e-commerce business.
The program has facilitated the development of more than 100 homegrown brands and covers product ideation and validation, supplier sourcing, positioning, pricing, branding, launch strategy, customer acquisition and early-stage growth.
About 80% of first-time founders who entered the program without an existing product or e-commerce background have progressed toward launching their first online business, based on LaunchStrong’s data.
The brands developed through the program cover wellness and supplements, food and beverage, personal care, pet care and fashion, including Eat Move Love, Pharmatrust, Magic Bowl, Tonios, TELA Pinoy and NanaPro Litter.
“E-commerce in the Philippines is becoming much easier to enter, but harder to win,” said Gumiran. “Opening a marketplace store or having a good product is no longer enough. Aspiring founders can generate sales and still lose money if they don’t fully understand business economics, platform fees, logistics, inventory, and cash flow. Success, more than just the launch, is making better decisions before putting hard-earned capital at risk so the business can survive and scale.”
The program’s focus on practical business decisions is informed by Gumiran’s own experience.
His wellness brand JUJU Lifestyle, founded in 2021, has served more than 300,000 customers and expanded to more than 20 retail partners within its first year of entering physical retail. Its retail network includes SouthStar Drug, HeyDay, Wellness Plus, specialty clinics and fitness studios.
Gumiran also brings experience from scaling digital marketing agency frameworks and navigating significant early-stage setbacks. These experiences informed LaunchStrong’s focus on product validation and risk mitigation.
His educational platform AdsLevelUp has also enabled him to coach more than 30,000 CEOs, freelancers, marketers and business owners through 200+ training sessions and workshops since 2019.
LaunchStrong is now entering its second year with plans to support more Filipino founders throughout the entire brand-building process.
“Our vision is to give first-time founders the practical perspective to realize that they can build a brand from scratch, regardless of where they are starting from,” Gumiran said. “In our second year, we want to equip more Filipinos with the skills, discipline, and execution capability to build sustainable consumer brands that can compete nationally and eventually scale beyond the Philippines.”
The next LaunchStrong five-week live mentorship cohort will launch in December 2026.