The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2025–2026
Serbiz bets AI guides turn SEA's side-hustle culture into a gig marketplace
Gen Z founders hit 80,000 users in the Philippines, then 30,000 in Vietnam in four weeks with no paid ads; Antler Vietnam backs the AI gig marketplace
Serbiz
What the business is
Serbiz is an AI-native gig marketplace, born in the Philippines and expanding through Vietnam, where users post or request side gigs — services, rentals, errands — while AI agents Earnie and Scout help both sides discover skills and needs.
How it started
Two Gen Z Filipina founders — Iyana Argañoza (CEO) and Aliexandra Heart Po (COO), both former computer science batch presidents at De La Salle University — built Serbiz from a university project. It hit tens of thousands of users in the Philippines through TikTok virality and word of mouth, reaching top-3 App Store Business ranking.
What happened
Serbiz joined Antler's SEA Venture Launchpad in Ho Chi Minh City on 28 April 2025 and announced pre-seed investment from Antler Vietnam on 29 July 2025. In Vietnam it gained more than 30,000 users in four weeks with zero paid advertising — the team screenshot Vietnamese TikToks, translated them with ChatGPT and adapted trends — with average sessions near nine minutes, top-8 App Store Business ranking and 2,000+ user-generated listings.
How it ended up
Still running: preparing its next fundraising round after Antler's pre-seed, with Serbiz 2.0 planned — faster payments, improved AI agents and recognition programmes — and expansion to more Southeast Asian markets.
Background
Serbiz is an AI-native gig marketplace built by two Gen Z Filipina founders, Iyana Argañoza (CEO) and Aliexandra Heart Po (COO), who started it as a university project at De La Salle University. It is designed for Southeast Asia's hustle culture: individuals launch side gigs in minutes, and small businesses fill skill gaps cheaply, without either side needing to know exactly what they want.
The bet is that AI can remove the discovery barrier that kills traditional job platforms. Agent Earnie generates personalized side hustles from a user's interests and experience; agent Scout converts vague requests into actionable gigs. Serbiz grew in the Philippines through TikTok virality and word of mouth — no agencies, no influencers — to about 80,000 users and a top-3 App Store Business ranking.
In April 2025 Serbiz joined Antler's SEA Venture Launchpad in Ho Chi Minh City, and on 29 July 2025 Antler Vietnam announced pre-seed investment. In Vietnam the team used ChatGPT to translate and adapt local TikTok trends, went viral repeatedly, and passed 30,000 users within four weeks with no paid ads, reaching top-8 App Store Business and nearly nine-minute average sessions.
As of mid-2026 Serbiz was preparing its next fundraising round and planning Serbiz 2.0 — faster payments, improved AI agents and user recognition programmes — with expansion to more Southeast Asian markets. The founders position it as an AI social startup: the heart is still people, the brains are AI.
What has to be true
- Traditional job platforms require users to know what they're good at and what they need; Serbiz's AI agents discover both, lowering the entry barrier for first-time earners.
- Hustle culture is mainstream in the Philippines and Vietnam, giving Serbiz a dense, engaged user base that larger markets lack.
- Marketing itself was the growth engine: two-person team, TikTok-native humor, no paid ads — 30,000 Vietnam users in four weeks cost almost nothing.
- Antler's hands-on Launchpad model let the founders test Vietnam cheaply before committing to expansion.
What can be applied
When users can't articulate what they want, make discovery the product: AI that tells people what they could sell, plus platform-native marketing, can outgrow paid acquisition.
Aftermath
As of 6 August 2026, Serbiz had built an 80,000-strong user base without paid marketing, was operating in the Philippines and Vietnam with an AI matching layer (agents Earnie and Scout), and was preparing its next fundraising round after Antler's pre-seed. Its roadmap included Serbiz 2.0 with faster payments, improved AI agents and user recognition programmes, plus expansion to other Southeast Asian markets.
Sources
- Antler Vietnam rót vốn pre-seed cho Serbiz
- Start-up Gen Z dùng AI 'mở lối' công việc tay trái của người Việt
- How Serbiz cracked TikTok: The AI-native gig marketplace redefining Gen Z hustling
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