Singapore – In the recent months, Society Pass or SoPa, the data-driven loyalty platform in SEA, has been ramping up its expansion in the region with a number of acquisitions; the most recent being MVNO Gorilla Networks in Singapore, and digital video multi-platform network Thoughtful Media in Bangkok.
Today, SoPa marks a new buy-out under its group – Mangan.ph, the local restaurant delivery service in the Philippines.
Founded in 2017, Mangan delivers restaurant food from over 1,200 partner restaurants to its over 500,000 registered users. According to the company, the delivery platform has generated more than 100,000 mobile app downloads to date.
Operating in the country’s province Pampanga, Mangan’s geographic reach focuses on provincial areas and extends to 16 other cities such as Angeles City, San Fernando, Clark, Dau, Mabalacat, and Guagua among others. The newly acquired business will be integrated into SoPa’s F&B vertical, which includes Pushkart, which it acquired in February this year.
Country Manager of SoPa in the Philippines, Arbie Pagdangan, shared that they will be combining the robust technology and operational efficiency of Mangan with their own brand-building expertise. Combined with Pushkart, which delivers grocery food to consumers in Metro Manila, SoPa aims to create a food delivery behemoth to serve the Philippine market.
“SoPa aims to double the number of registered users to over 800,000 and drive app downloads to over 200,000 by the end of 2023. We look forward to building out our next generation loyalty platform as well as opportunistically [acquiring] market leading companies in F&B, lifestyle, digital advertising and travel verticals in [the] Philippines for the rest of 2022,” said Pagdangan.
Ralph Rile, co-founder and CEO of Mangan, commented, “When we started Mangan five years ago, our vision was to deliver delicious dishes from Pampanga’s wide array of cafes and restaurants right to our customer’s doorsteps in a hassle-free way. We have witnessed tremendous success in our initial goals, and now, aim to expand Mangan beyond Luzon Island to other regions in Philippines.”
“This is why joining forces with SoPa is our logical next step, and we are excited about the combined capabilities we will now bring to Mangan’s partners and customers,” added Rile.
Louie Alcantara, co-founder and also chief technology officer of Mangan, added, “In a short span of time, with our easy-to-use technology interface, Mangan has established a reputation of being the top online local food delivery service, achieving over US$2 million in gross merchandise value yearly. Leveraging SoPa’s marketing platform and capital, we aim to increase GMV multiple fold by the end of 2022.”
