The people behind your best hire yet
Kapwa is a Filipino word with no direct translation. It describes a shared sense of self, the idea that your wellbeing and mine are connected. We named our company after it because it is not just our philosophy. It is our business model.
Where Kapwa Support began
Kapwa was founded by two people with one foot in Europe and one in the Philippines. One of our founders grew up in the Philippines before moving to the Netherlands. The other carries a deep connection to the country through lived personal experience. Between them, they know both worlds firsthand: the way European SMBs work, and the talent, warmth and work ethic of Filipino professionals.
They also saw what usually happens when the two meet. Offshore staffing built on squeezing rates produces exactly what you would expect: high turnover, inconsistent quality, and business owners who conclude that delegation "doesn't work". It is not that delegation fails. It is that the model behind it fails the people doing the work.
Why we pay our VAs more than the market does
Here is the uncomfortable truth about most virtual assistant providers: the cheaper the VA is treated, the more expensive they become for you. Underpaid assistants leave. Every departure means re-hiring, re-training, re-explaining your business from scratch. The hidden cost of churn dwarfs any saving on the hourly rate.
So we built Kapwa Support the other way round. Our virtual assistants earn above-market pay, receive performance bonuses, and are recognised with paid holidays. We bring them together at community meetups in the Philippines, because professionals who feel part of something do better work than freelancers who feel disposable.
This is not charity. It is quality engineering. A VA who is paid fairly, supported properly and proud of their work stays with you for years, learns your business deeply, and delivers with the consistency that makes delegation actually pay off.
Crimson’s story
Founder
I was born in the Philippines and moved to the Netherlands when I was ten years old.
Growing up between these two cultures shaped the way I see people, work and opportunity. I experienced the warmth, resilience and strong family values of Filipino culture, while also learning from the Dutch way of working: directness, structure, quality and reliability.
Later, I studied Trade Management Asia, where I learned how business can connect Asia and Europe. That education helped me understand not only the commercial opportunities between both regions, but also the cultural differences that can either create friction or become a real strength when handled well.
Kapwa Support was born from that understanding.
As someone who is Filipino and grew up in the Netherlands, I believe both sides have something valuable to offer each other. Dutch and European SMEs are known for quality, trust and professionalism, but many business owners are losing too much time to recurring tasks. I want to help them protect that quality by giving them reliable support, so they can focus on the work that truly matters.
At the same time, I want to create better opportunities for Filipino professionals. Many talented Filipinos are hardworking, loyal and highly capable, but too often they are underpaid, undervalued or forced to look far from home to support their families.
With Kapwa Support, we want to build something different.
We connect Dutch and European businesses with dedicated Filipino virtual assistants who work European hours, are treated fairly, and are supported properly. Our belief is simple: when people are valued, they stay longer, grow stronger and do better work.
For me, Kapwa Support is more than a business. It is a bridge between the country where I was born and the country that helped me grow. It is a way to help European businesses delegate with confidence, while giving Filipino professionals the opportunity to build a better life without having to leave their families behind.
That is the heart of Kapwa: taking care of each other, so everyone can move forward together.
Jasper’s story
Founder
I came to this from the other direction.
I grew up in the Netherlands and built my career in media, an industry where the work is only as good as the people behind it and where deadlines do not move. It taught me two things that still shape how I run things. Quality is a process, not a personality trait. And the person who is stretched too thin is the person who eventually drops something.
My connection to the Philippines came through my wife and, over the years, through her family. I did not inherit that culture. I was welcomed into it. What struck me first was not how different it felt, but how much of it I recognised: the pride people take in doing a job properly, the sense of responsibility to everyone around them, the instinct to give more than is asked. I also saw what that instinct costs when someone takes advantage of it.
That is largely what the outsourcing industry has done with it. Filipino professionals are among the most capable and most committed people I have worked with, and far too often they are hired as the cheapest available hour, kept on night shifts, given no path forward, and replaced the moment someone cheaper turns up. It is not a talent problem. It is a treatment problem.
On the European side, I kept meeting business owners with the opposite problem. They are good at what they do and they are drowning in everything around it: the inbox, the invoices, the scheduling, the follow-ups. Most of them have tried delegating at least once. Plenty were burned by it. Three assistants in six months, work that had to be redone, and no clear answer when they asked where their client data was actually going.
Kapwa Support exists in the space between those two problems.
We sit in the middle on purpose, accountable to both sides. That means fair pay, proper support and real progression for our VAs. It also means European clients get someone trained for their market, working their hours, handling their data under proper GDPR safeguards. Those two commitments are not in tension. They are the same commitment seen from opposite ends. People who are valued do not quietly disappear after three months, and a VA who stays is the only kind who ever becomes genuinely valuable to a business.
My co-founder brings the lived experience of both countries. I bring the operator's side: how the work gets planned, delivered and held to a standard.
The word kapwa describes a shared identity, the understanding that the person on the other side of the table is not separate from you. It is not a concept I was born into. It was taught to me, patiently, by people who live it. Building a company around it is the most useful thing I can do with what I was given.
European standards, built in
We are based in the Netherlands and we serve businesses across Europe, which means we treat GDPR as a core value rather than a legal footnote. Every engagement is covered by Standard Contractual Clauses for EU-to-Philippines data transfers, reinforced by technical and operational safeguards. Your client data is handled the way European regulators, and your own clients, expect.
What this means for you
When you work with Kapwa, you get bureau-level quality at rates that make sense for an SMB or solopreneur, starting from €35. You get a VA who works with your European hours, understands your standards, and intends to stay. And you get a partner who believes the best way to take care of your business is to take care of the people who serve it.
Curious what a Kapwa Support VA could take off your plate? See our services, or skip straight to a conversation.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Kapwa Support was founded by two people with a deeply personal connection to the Philippines, one who grew up there before relocating to the Netherlands, and one with close personal ties to Filipino culture. That dual perspective, lived experience on both sides, shapes everything we do.
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We saw a gap between what VA staffing agencies typically offer and what would actually make VAs and clients thrive together. Most models push rates down and treat VAs as interchangeable. We wanted to build something different, an agency where genuine care for our VAs is the engine behind consistent quality for our clients.
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It means above-market pay, performance bonuses, community meetups and proper recognition of paid vacation are not add-ons. They are how we keep our VAs motivated, supported and invested in your success, which shows up directly in the quality and reliability of their work.
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Kapwa Support is a Netherlands-based staffing agency. Our team spans both regions, which is exactly why we can bridge European business expectations with Filipino talent so naturally.
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Kapwa, the Filipino sense of shared identity and mutual regard, is not just a name. It informs how we support our VAs, how we communicate with clients and how we think about long-term relationships rather than transactional placements.
Ready to hire a VA?
Tell us what is eating your week. With one free introduction call we will show you what a Kapwa Support VA can mean for your business.