Megaworld's New Investment Arm Earmarks P250 Million for its First Startup Project

Property giant Megaworld has formally announced its entry into technology and digital venture capitalism with the launch of a new unit called Agile Digital Ventures. 

The wholly owned subsidiary will support tech startups engaged in the country’s food, retail, and hospitality industries, especially during these challenging times.

It has allocated an initial budget of $5 million (roughly P250 million) for three years as capital expenditure for its first startup project called Pick.A.Roo, which was launched in late July but will be on  beta test mode starting August 8.

Pick.A.Roo is a grocery and food delivery service app that focuses on “premium products” especially curated and “approved” by the platform. The service is working with over 300 merchants and brands that represent “essentials:” from premium groceries and luxury hotel goodies to gadgets, home and kitchen products, toys, gifts, and food items.

“Our main goal is to help retailers smoothly migrate to the digital platform especially during this challenging time,” said Kevin Tan, Megaworld chief startegy officer and president of Agile Digital Ventures Inc. “Since 2018, we have been looking for investment opportunities on an app that will enable our retail partners sell and deliver their products online and on-demand. We have talked to several potential partners, but eventually, we decided to build our own.”

Tan worked with Crystal Gonzalez, former country chief of Honestbee Philippines, to develop Pick.A.Roo. Both are co-founders of the app.

“We started from scratch to build our first startup brand,” Tan added. “Aside from the technology itself, we put focus on operations which will be integral to the success of every brand that we create.” 

Aside from Pick.A.Roo, the company said it is also looking for other investment opportunities in digital technology platforms that will complement and further boost Megaworld’s core businesses.

Megaworld, which is led by its founder Andrew Tan, currently has 26 townships and mixed-use communities around the Philippines, composed for over 700 residential developments, over 60 office towers, 20 lifestyle malls, and 11 hotels.