Ayala group-backed corporate venture capital firm Kickstart Ventures has intensified its hunt for future “unicorns” here and abroad notwithstanding a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, making use of a fresh fund to help bankroll early-stage to growth-stage tech startups. Kickstart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Telecoms, is scouting for innovative companies with compelling, credible and scalable…
The privately held technology company behind the PayMaya mobile wallet successfully raised , or over P8 billion, to fund its expansion and an upcoming digital bank. Voyager Innovations said on Monday the money came from existing investors PLDT Inc., China’s Tencent, global investment firm KKR and the International Finance Corp., through IFC Financial Institutions Growth…
High inflation seen persisting throughout the year and vaccine hesitancy may slow the Philippines’ economic recovery, but the government is still confident that rebound from the pandemic-induced recession is just around the corner. In an economic bulletin Monday, Department of Finance (DOF) Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran noted the 20.7-percent growth in total external…
Homegrown fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. plans to beef up its capital by as much as P20 billion in the next three years through the sale of preferred shares, as it expects to return to a pre-pandemic pace of global store expansion by 2022. During the company’s stockholders’ meeting on Friday, JFC president Ernest Tanmantiong…
When the Group president of Jollibee Foods Corp. and managing director of McDonald’s Philippines set aside their companies’ fierce rivalry in the fast-food sector in favor of pooling their expertise and resources to pursue a common goal for the Philippines, good things will likely happen. Among these is the acceleration of the government’s COVID-19 vaccination…
The big-ticket infrastructure projects currently rolled out by the government will create an additional 1.6 million jobs this year, President Duterte’s infrastructure managers said on Wednesday. Public Works Secretary Mark Villar told the Asia Infrastructure Forum 2021 the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program had so far created as public infrastructure spending was doubled to 5…
Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has teamed up with the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) to offer collateral-free term loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in need of lifeline during this prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. In a press statement, BPI business banking head Eric Luchangco said the collateral-free loan facility for SMEs signified…
For millions of Filipinos working hard on foreign soil in order to provide for their families back home, remittance centers have served as their reliable partners in securing their loved ones’ futures. With fintech solutions becoming more mainstream, traditional remittance centers now need to keep up with changing times—a need that Pera Hub aims to…
As the Philippines rebounds from the pandemic, strengthening labor market programs will be critical to help workers and enterprises make the transition. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines was experiencing its longest-ever economic and job expansion. There was remarkable growth in wage and salary employment (a measure of modern employment), growing at an average…