Top left clockwise: The 917Ventures six portfolio companies GCash, AdSpark, RUSH, HealthNow, PureGo, and KonsultaMD
By Victoria “NIKE” De Dios
Innovation is the mother of necessity, the old adage said. When it comes to innovation, Filipinos are always ahead and this is reflected on how the Philippines in last year’s Global Innovation Index 2020, wherein we jumped 4 notches to rank 50.
Believing in the Filipinos’ ingenuity and innovativeness, 917Ventures which has been at the forefront of digital innovations has enabled consumers and businesses to thrive and triumph in today’s challenging environment.
With companies under its wings like GCash, KonsultaMD, HealthNow, RUSH, AdSpark, and PureGo, these have become the new lifelines for Filipinos during this pandemic and beyond.
GCash helps its 40 million users securely send money and pay for goods and services online and empowers many small businesses to survive and thrive through cashless solutions. GCash was also one of the channels used by the government to safely distribute financial assistance to Filipinos through its Social Amelioration Program last year and remains to be a key donation platform in collecting and sending assistance across the country.
Following its momentum in 2020, GCash continues to innovate and reinvent the Filipino way of life through easy access to financial services through the following features: GLife – access to mini-apps to shop, eat and play, and helps businesses save cost from building their own apps; GInvest – participate in high yielding investments for as low as P50; GInsure – life and health insurance for as low as P39; GSave – get the best savings rate in the country with no minimum balance required; and GCredit – the first digital credit model and mobile credit line in the Philippines, used as a payment option in Shopee, Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
As health and safety have been the driving force behind the digital shift, 917Ventures offers convenient and reliable healthtech platforms such as KonsultaMD and HealthNow. Consultations made through KonsultaMD skyrocketed by 461 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. The HealthNow app, on the other hand, has been downloaded more than 240,000 times since its launch in August 2020.
HealthNow offers online prescriptions and delivery of medicines through partner pharmacies so that customers receive medical services from their own homes. The service is currently available in Metro Manila, and will soon include key cities in Visayas and Mindanao.
Complementing the door-to-door delivery of medicines is Purego’s platform for quick and easy grocery shopping. The app launched on December 1, 2020, enabling customers easier access to essentials for the home. Armed with thousands of products from reputable and trusted brands, consumers can practically order anything using the app, from pantry essentials to household necessities all sourced directly from Puregold. Multiple payment options including GCash are available, and items are delivered within 24 hours.
For B2B markets, AdSpark and RUSH help accelerate the digital footprint of brands through digital advertising solutions, customer engagement, loyalty and rewards programs, giving added value to businesses and their customers.
AdSpark, through its access to consumer intelligence, enables businesses to grow throughout their digital transformation journey. ThoughtSparkers, AdSpark’s flagship whitepaper powered by AdSpark Intelligence, helps drive communication strategies by studying the Filipino psyche.
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. The company recently expanded its services to include an eCommerce platform to help digitize merchant stores. It continues to empower digital marketers to own customer relationships through RUSH Loyalty, as well as drive traffic to digital stores by embedding the RUSH eStore in GCash, tapping on millions of customers using GLife.
“We know how tough our battle against this pandemic is, and we are all at risk, especially those who need to be physically present in their jobs. So we continue to reinvent lifestyle and movement through different products and services in the areas of health, e-commerce, financial technology, and advertising technology that deliver indelible value to consumers and businesses,” said Vince Yamat, 917Ventures Managing Director.
917Ventures is a subsidiary of Globe. It has likewise helped startups maximize Globe’s ‘Unfair Advantage’ by leveraging the rich asset base of Globe. Aside from capital and funding firepower, Globe has a customer base of over 80 million, one million distribution points, 150,000 enterprise partners as well as massive networks and affiliates which the startups can tap. Being a venture builder, the company is constantly on the lookout for new ideas to launch and accelerate, to further improve the lives of Filipinos.
917Ventures is also part of Globe’s 5G Hackathon, providing mentorship to participants of the nationwide competition welcoming students and professionals to innovate and pitch their solutions to help various aspects of the Philippine society. The competition will focus on the use of 5G technologies in various sectors of the Philippine economy such as education, health care, livelihood, and disaster risk management. Winners of the 5G Hackathon may join 917Ventures as a venture builder to further jumpstart their idea. The successful venture builder under 917Ventures will receive P 2.5 million in support.
To know more about 917Ventures, visit https://917ventures.com/.