Jungie Gumiran
Homegrown mentorship program marks first year with 150+ founders mentored and 100+ brands supported
MANILA, Philippines — A growing pool of Filipino entrepreneurs is exploring e-commerce not simply as a sales channel, but as a starting point for building homegrown consumer brands.
Among the programs supporting this movement is LaunchStrong, a Philippine-founded e-commerce mentorship platform that has mentored more than 150 first-time founders and facilitated the development of more than 100 brands in its first year.
Founded in 2025 by entrepreneur Jungie Gumiran, LaunchStrong delivers a five-week live mentorship program covering the practical foundations of building an e-commerce business.
From product ideation and validation to supplier sourcing, positioning, pricing, branding, launch strategy, customer acquisition and early-stage growth, the program is designed to help founders make informed decisions before and after bringing their products to market.
LaunchStrong’s data shows that approximately 80% of first-time founders who joined without an existing product or e-commerce background have progressed toward launching their first online business.
The program has supported brands across wellness and supplements, food and beverage, personal care, pet care and fashion. These include 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.”
Gumiran’s perspective comes from building his own businesses.
His wellness brand JUJU Lifestyle, founded in 2021, has served more than 300,000 customers and expanded to over 20 retail partners within its first year of physical retail expansion. These include SouthStar Drug, HeyDay, Wellness Plus, specialty clinics and fitness studios.
He has also experienced the challenges of scaling digital marketing agency frameworks and navigating major setbacks in the early stages of business, shaping his emphasis on validation and risk management.
Since 2019, Gumiran has coached more than 30,000 CEOs, freelancers, marketers and business owners through AdsLevelUp, conducting more than 200 training sessions and workshops.
As LaunchStrong enters its second year, its goal is to make practical entrepreneurship education accessible to more aspiring Filipino founders.
“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.”
LaunchStrong will hold its next five-week live mentorship cohort in December 2026.