Globe Telecom Inc.’s venture builder subsidiary will develop more digital solutions for seven industries, which it believes are “ripe for disruption.”
917 Ventures Managing Director Vince Yamat said the venture builder will prioritize the development of solutions for the following sectors: health technology, advertising technology, loyalty, data, education technology, financial technology, and e-commerce.
“We would like to focus on these 7 verticals or industries, as these are the industries that are ripe for disruption. These are also the verticals that we have a beachhead and we would like to leverage on that,” he said.
Yamat added that 917 Ventures continuously looks for “nagging pain points or problems” to solve through digital technologies.
Currently, 917 Ventures has six portfolio companies, namely: GCash, HealthNow, KonsultaMD, Rush, AdSpark, and PureGo.
GCash is a fintech app that provides users with financial tools and services through their mobile phones. HealthNow and KonsultaMD, meanwhile, are digital healthcare brands that offer digital medical consultations and on-demand medicines.
Rush offers digital innovations in the area of customer loyalty and retention, made accessible through easy-to-use programs to help businesses grow in the digital space, while AdSpark is the digital advertising arm of 917 Ventures.
Lastly, PureGo is a joint venture with supermarket Puregold. It allows users to purchase their groceries via the PureGo platform.
“As a venture builder, the primary purpose is to build our own companies, but not discounting possibility of working with other companies as well. We like working with partners that we can leverage on. And we as Globe, contributing our unfair advantage,” Yamat said.
He also noted that these companies may see themselves going public through an initial public offering, but noted that “there’s a perfect timing for that.”
“We’ll see. I’m sure pretty soon,” Yamat said.
917Ventures is Globe’s corporate venture builder that ideates, launches, and accelerates new business ideas that have the potential to grow and scale fast.