The Ayala-led telecommunication company, Globe, is on track to solidify its expansion into a digital solutions platform as its affiliates and subsidiaries registered strong growth in 2021, bringing the company closer to its vision of going beyond telco to empower the Filipino digital lifestyle, the telco said in a statement.
Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu cited at Globe’s FY/Q4 2021 financial media briefing that the continued rise of the company’s roster of businesses, saying they could replicate the sustained success of Mynt, operator of leading e-wallet and fintech platform GCash.
The flagship telco business, he said, remains a strong launching pad for new ventures in Globe’s expanding portfolio.
“I think we’re seeing significant progress,” he said at the media briefing.
“We do think that telco continues to be a very viable platform and a good springboard for new businesses to develop much like what we’ve done with Mynt,” he said.
He added that Globe’s award-winning digital advertising agency AdSpark generated a revenue of over P1.2 billion in 2021, higher by 32% from full-year 2020. Today, it is “one of the largest ad agencies and companies in the country,” Cu stressed.
Meanwhile, RUSH, the country’s leading loyalty solutions provider, also posted more than 100% revenue growth versus full-year 2020. It has also grown its user base to 3.8 million, supporting businesses in their entry into the digital space.
The online grocery shopping platform PureGo, a partnership with Puregold, also registered sales growth of over 75% in 2021, quickly expanding its reach. The service is now available in all cities in Metro Manila, and in Cavite, Bulacan, and Rizal.
AdSpark, RUSH, and PureGo are among portfolio companies under 917Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe. Other start-ups include the country’s largest e-wallet GCash and telehealth service platform KonsultaMD, which both posted stellar growth in 2021.
“Using our core telco business and spurred by rapid consumer digital adoption, we are doubling down on the shift to become a digital solutions platform. Globe currently offers several diverse high-growth enterprises in healthtech, fintech, adtech, e-commerce, e-learning, and entertainment, among others. We will continue to innovate to deliver services that empower and uplift Filipinos’ lives,” said Cu.
Globe is also scaling up its information technology solutions and services through multi-payment platform Electronic Commerce Payments Inc. (ECPay), which now has a general trade retail base of over 89,000.
At present, Globe’s corporate venture capital arm Kickstart Ventures now has $255 million aggregate assets under management, a staggering growth from $2.4 million in 2012. It focuses on media, content and advertising, fintech, and logistics tech, among others.
