Philippines telecom giant PLDT launches VC unit

PLDT Capital is expected to invest up to $50 million in 2015 to help PLDT business units - such as Smart, ePLDT, Digital5 and Voyager - expand their portfolio of digital services in the Philippines, the rest of Southeast Asia, and other developing economies globally.

The move follows a number of investments by PLDT through its corporate development initiative. Notably, the company acquired a 10% stake in German e-commerce incubator Rocket Internet for EUR333 million ($444 million). They also agreed to work together on developing a payments and remittance infrastructure for Rocket's portfolio of emerging markets start-ups.

In Smart, PLDT has the largest "branchless banking" network in the Philippines. The business has already entered markets such as Brazil and Argentina in partnership with Mastercard and is said to be keen to establish a multi-jurisdictional footprint.

PLDT Capital will be led by two managing directors - Winston Damarillo and Anabelle Chua, currently PLDT's chief strategy officer and chief financial officer, respectively. They will be supported by a team of strategists, engineers, and product managers. PLDT Capital has set up a base in Los Angeles and also has a presence in Silicon Valley.

"The PLDT Group serves more than 70 million mobile and internet customers in the ASEAN region," Damarillo said in a statement. "In addition to investments, PLDT Capital aims to become the gateway for the most promising startups to expand their opportunities to the fast growing digital consumers in the ASEAN region."

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