Globe’s corporate incubator secures funds for innovations

Ayala-owned AC Ventures has committed to finance the development of digital innovations to be undertaken by corporate incubator 917Ventures, as they plan to come up with new products and services that build on the shift to online transactions.

917Ventures has signed a partnership with AC Ventures, a subsidiary of listed Ayala Corp., to explore business partnerships and widen its product portfolio.

Under the arrangement, AC Ventures will participate in financing the research, development and launch of innovations pursued by 917Ventures, the venture builder unit of Globe Telecom Inc.

917Ventures managing director Vince Yamat said the firm intends to take advantage not only of the capital, but also the network of AC Ventures.

He added that the partnership will contribute in pushing the digital transition both here in the Philippines and in the whole of Asia.

“We can leverage the ecosystem and the network advantage that they [AC Ventures] provide to solve the pain points of consumers and businesses. Through digital solutions, we can help pave the way and deliver indelible value to the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region,” Yamat said.

AC Ventures president and CEO Alberto de Larrazabal said Ayala wants to take part in building up the digital transformation sweeping across the country – a development that took decades to shape up and was even accelerated by the pandemic.

“Ayala intends to participate in this multi-decade transformation by contributing to the research, development and incubation of disruptive solutions across different consumer touchpoints in our portfolio,” de Larrazabal said.

With its strong track record of developing startups to achieve scale and profitability, de Larrazabal said 917Ventures is the natural vehicle for Ayala’s digital ventures.

Since its inception in 2019, 917Ventures has introduced to the market a total of nine new firms: AdSpark, GCash, HealthNow, KonsultaMD, PureGo, RUSH, m360, Inquiro and KodeGo.

917Ventures said its parent Globe provided it with the customer reach and data portfolio to grow its innovations.

The leading digital solutions platform also extended its assistance in terms of where to distribute, who to partner with, as well as how to execute and who to market.

With AC Ventures as a partner, 917Ventures hopes to expand the quantity and raise the quality of its future projects. It also said the Ayala Group opens up a window of opportunities in multiple markets, including banking, energy, health care, logistics and real estate.

Last month, Globe consolidated its advertising portfolio by setting up AdSpark, which it placed under 917Ventures, as part of its moves to become a digital solutions platform within 10 years.

Apart from AdSpark, 917Ventures also spun off telemedicine trailblazer KonsultaMD and digital solutions Mynt, the financial technology behind e-wallet giant GCash.