If you are a fan of Koreanovela, you probably have seen the K-drama series called “Start-up.” Start-Up is a 2020 South Korean television series that revolves around a woman who has dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and started a startup company through the fictional Silicon Valley, called Sandbox.
And just at the height of its popularity, 917Ventures, a subsidiary of Globe Telecom and the country’s largest corporate incubator, has launched a regional venture incubation program dedicated to giving prospective builders and other talents the opportunity to build successful businesses in the areas of e-commerce, fintech, health tech, and adtech. Yup, that is just a real-life Sandbox as we can say it.
Called Velocity, the program seeks to gather the best innovators in Southeast Asia with an initial grant of up to $50,000 (roughly P2.4 million). Talents who manage to build a meaningful product with proven traction will continue in the venture development journey through a seed round, with the ultimate goal of spinning off as an independent entity. Up to 10 finalists will be selected to partake in this exclusive program.
“We have structured Velocity in a way that really puts talents first. We’re here to support and help venture builders create successful businesses that would progress on to ultimately becoming a standalone entity with bright growth prospects. We aim to support venture builders in their journey to realizing their dreams and thus, encourage interested parties to build their first unicorn with us,”
said Vince Yamat, 917Ventures’ Managing Director.
Velocity provides 917Ventures’ resources and expertise in product development, go-to-market strategic design, lean operations, digital marketing, legal support, and a variety of other areas. 917Ventures has already shown a track record of nurturing innovations and building businesses, having invested in Mynt which operates GCash, the nation’s largest provider of mobile money services. It has also successfully managed AdSpark, and KonsultaMD, two companies making strides in the digital marketing and telehealth space, respectively.
The program is also fully supported and backed by Globe and the large ecosystem that it is a part of, including its parent company, Ayala Corporation. Globe has already successfully built its own corporate venture capital firm, Kickstart Ventures, which invests in early- to early-growth stage tech startups globally.
The presence of Globe provides an unfair advantage that venture builders can unlock given Globe’s massive user base, distribution points nationwide, data, and resources. By joining the program, venture builders will have access to Globe’s resources including legal, finance, marketing, and human resources. They also have higher chances to scale under the four focus areas of e-commerce, fintech, health tech, and ad tech, as well as receive temporary employment from day one, close mentorship, networking opportunities for business optimization, and upskilling programs for personal development.
The program takes place over the course of three months. The first month will be geared towards helping chosen applicants build their minimally viable product while the following two months will focus on helping them take their solution to market, and refine their value proposition.
Velocity will accept applications for the first batch until January 4, 2021. Application details may be found at https://velocity.917ventures.com/.
