917Ventures: Creating digital lifelines for Filipinos

917Ventures' digital innovations have enabled consumers and businesses to thrive and triumph in today's challenging environment. Companies like GCash, KonsultaMD, HealthNow, RUSH, AdSpark, and PureGo have become the new lifelines for Filipinos during this pandemic.

GCash helps its 40million users securely send money, pay for goods and services online, and empowers small businesses to 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.

Following its momentum in 2020, GCash continues to innovate and reinvent the Filipino way of life through easy access to financial services through: GLife - access to mini-apps to shop, eat and play; GInvest - participate in high yielding investments; GInsure - life and health insurance; 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.

917Ventures offers reliable healhtech platforms such as KonsultaMD and HealthNow. Consultations made through KonsultaMD skyrocketed by 461 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. HealthNow, an app that has been downloaded over 240,000 times since August last year, offers easy access to healthcare services, which include video consultation and medicine delivery.

Complementing the door-to-door delivery of medicines is PureGo's platform for quick and easy grocery shopping, enabling customers easier access to home essentials.

For B2B markets, AdSpark and RUSH help accelerate the digital footprint of brands through digital advertising solutions, customer engagement, and loyalty programs.

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 around customer loyalty and retention through easy-to-use programs to help businesses grow in the digital space.

"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.

A subsidiary of Globe, 917Ventures has helped startups maximize Globe's 'Unfair Advantage' by leveraging Globe's rich asset base. Globe's customer base of over 80 million, one million distribution points, 150,000 enterprise partners and massive networks and affiliates are what startups can tap. Being a venture builder, the company constantly looks for new ideas to launch and accelerate to further improve Filipino lives.

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.