Mober counting on more partnerships to boost growth in Philippines

MOBER TECHNOLOGY Pte, Inc. is counting on more partnerships to expand the reach of the country’s first on-demand mobile delivery start-up.

“This year we will be very aggressive, because last year was our first year, so we [ just] tested the market which is very lucrative,” said Mober Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Ng in a recent interview with BusinessWorld.

“We’re dealing now with Philippine Airlines ( PAL),” he added, saying that Mober will pick up PAL cargo from the airport and proceed with door-todoor delivery.

While the two companies have yet to agree on rates, Mr. Ng said they hope to begin the partnership by end April.

“Our projection for this year is we want to reach 135,000 bookings, or around $600,000 revenue. This will be boosted by vegetable dealers. We want to serve [those] that supply vegetables and fruits to restaurants. This is a huge market,” he said.

The mobile delivery firm saw as much as 65% monthly growth in bookings in 2016, recording a total of 9,093 bookings with only 100 vans by yearend. Around 75% of the year’s total deliveries were booked in the fourth quarter, after Mober sealed its partnership with SM Appliance Center and SM Our Home in October.

Mober has also partnered with other furniture businesses such as Blims Fine Furniture, Mandaue Foam, Dimensione, and Robinsons’ Appliance Center. Also included in the list of partners are adidas, Red Ribbon, Tata Motors, Rockwell Land, as well as a number of pet shops and restaurants.

“We’re working with big malls to have a kiosk for van partners so customers can focus on shopping while Mober handles deliveries,” said Mr. Ng.

Since Mober launched in December 2015, its delivery service was limited to the

Greater Manila region. This year, the company looks to set up shop in Cebu by end of April, and in Davao City within the fourth quarter.

“We only have around five [ employees] in each branch. What we studied was who will run the branch. Our team in Cebu will all be Cebuanos because we are in the business of logistics, so the dispatcher needs to be familiar with the street, how to deal with traffic, and marketing,” Mr. Ng said in a mix of Filipino and English.

The company is looking to raise $ 1 million to expand its business until 2019, of which $300,000 which will be used for local expansion this year.

“We will spend the money to improve our software, for marketing, and the rest will be for the Cebu and Davao office,” said Mr. Ng.

Should the company reach its target funding, Mr. Ng said they might expand to Singapore by the end of 2017, citing the country’s maturity in terms of the app market and the readiness of van partners.

To attract van partners in Singapore, Mr. Ng said they will be offering equity shares in the company.

“We want to make sure we also take care of the van partners because without them, we’re nothing. We’re just an app… So probably a maximum equity of 20%, this will give us uniqueness,” Mr. Ng said.

So far, Mober only has 120 van partners, but is looking to raise this number to 500 by the end of the year, and to 3,000 by 2019. This will account for an accumulated three million deliveries.

According to the company’s research, there are around 15,000 delivery vans in Metro Manila. Mr. Ng aims to tap these existing vehicles, instead of urging individuals to buy new vans to become delivery partners. Mober only accepts van models not younger than 2012.

“We’re trying to maximize the underutilized vans. Currently vans only have two bookings a day, so Mober fills the booking by adding say two more… Eventually there will be less vehicles on the road,” he added.

Mober’s services cost P500 for the first five kilometers and P25 for each succeeding kilometer, with each delivery averaging P800. The firm takes a 20% commission from each delivery, so van partners could earn as much as P3,500 per day with a minimum of three deliveries.