Tag: Expansion

Malaysia – Epiphany Café, a New Zealand café franchise and the flagship business of Starfleet Innotech Inc., has announced it has more than doubled its domestic presence this year. To capitalize on this momentum, the company is now mobilizing into Malaysia, with plans to expand into the Philippines and United States by year-end.

According to Chito Galvez, divisional manager for franchising of Starfleet Innotech Inc., Epiphany Café plays a leading role in the conglomerate’s global growth plans, establishing the group’s footprint in new markets and creating the scaffolding necessary to expand the other products and services in SFIO’s portfolio. These include New Zealand Manuka Honey (under the Epiphany Café brand) and instant coffee (under the Gorgeous Coffee brand), both slated to be available for purchase online in North America by July.

Galvez brings over 35 years of experience in franchise business development, retail site expansion, sales building, customer service, negotiations, and business relationship building to his role spearheading SFIO’s franchising operations. Prior to joining SFIO, Galvez played crucial roles in the growth teams of F&B giants such as 7-11 and the Jollibee Group, with a career taking him across the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, India, and New Zealand.

Starfleet Innotech Inc.’ CEO and Co-founder of Epiphany Cafe Jeths Lacson, shared, “At the beginning of the year, we mapped out a two-year roadmap for 200 new Epiphany Café locations across New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia,” Lacson added.

“Under Chito’s leadership, we are making great progress in our regional expansion plans.” Epiphany Café more than doubled its footprint across New Zealand in the first half of 2022, growing from 30 locations to 65 franchised and licensed locations within the country. Following the completion of market research and feasibility studies, Epiphany Café has already secured trademarks and reserved flagship locations to enter the Malaysian market. Initial teams to manage these brick-and-mortar operations in Malaysia will be training in New Zealand next quarter,” Lacson added.

As Epiphany Cafe continues to grow domestically and regionally, the SFIO group is setting the stage for an entrance into North America. 

Lacson continues, “In addition to partnering with local distributors to sell our F&B products online, we’re actively exploring M&A opportunities with existing cafe and bakery businesses to bring our award-winning New Zealand brand to the United States.” 

Lacson further said, “Our Chief Investments Officer Richard de Lima plays a central role in finding and shaping precisely these opportunities.”

CIO Richard de Lima is an asset manager and global corporate advisor, bringing over 30 years of experience in the capital markets to leading the conglomerate’s global partnership efforts. As an expert in business finance engineering, mergers & acquisitions, portfolio management, and strategic corporate investor relations, De Lima specializes in cross-border transactions in the lower middle market.

In addition to his experience working across Wall Street investment banking firms, he was the President and CEO of LeBevCo Holdings, a global F&B operation. Now leading SFIO’s partnership initiatives in the United States, he leverages his decades of experience and network-building among F&B distributors, manufacturers, and brick-and-mortar businesses to strike and structure the strategic deals necessary for an impactful debut for Epiphany Café.

Lacson concluded, “As we build momentum for Epiphany Café in New Zealand, Malaysia, and beyond, we continue to keep our sights trained on North America as our key market. We’re at an inflection point now in our growth journey—lining up strategic partners that share our vision. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more news around our progress in that journey.”

California, USA — Citcon, the one-stop gateway to the growing payment options that enable cross-border and in-market commerce to scale, has announced the organization’s latest expansion efforts in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Following a successful Series C fundraise in October 2021, the global payments provider has expanded its portfolio of local wallets and alternative payment schemes to more than 200 and added in-market senior leadership and support staff to bolster its market presence throughout the APAC region.

With its expanded in-market presence, Citcon is rapidly expanding digital wallet and local payment scheme integration throughout APAC, recently adding more than 50 popular local wallet solutions to better serve consumers in South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, and many more.

Additionally, Citcon has also expanded its integration with AliPay, WeChatPay, PayPal, and Klarna which have emerged as leading payment platforms serving global markets. Today, Citcon’s single API solution enables merchants to access more than 200 payment methods through a single integrated payment, reconciliation, and settlement solution.

Chuck Huang, founder and CEO of Citcon, commented, “The booming middle class in APAC markets is the most important force driving global commerce. While western brands and western styles will find eager customers throughout Asia, buying and selling merchandise is still a hyper-localized process. We have rapidly grown our APAC market presence, including adding in-country experts and staff to help our partners to scale their businesses throughout the continent and beyond.”

To manage its on-the-ground presence, Citcon has expanded its in-market leadership team in key locations, including Japan, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Citcon recently welcomed Andrew Meimes, VP and head of Citcon APAC, as well as Ian Zhang, GM for Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, and Siddharth Sahi, director of APAC payment partnerships based in Singapore.

Meimes shared, “As our markets have rapidly evolved from largely cash-based to cashless, consumer culture has undergone a dramatic shift. Merchants need the functionality to integrate into the new shopping and commerce models in these markets and the cultural insights to optimize their presence with the consumers they wish to engage.

Singapore — InMobi, an established provider of content, marketing, and monetization tech that help businesses fuel growth, has announced the expansion of its partnership with Microsoft Advertising to support enterprise and strategic advertisers in Southeast Asia (SEA).

Via the partnership’s expansion into SEA, InMobi will offer marketers an integrated solution to power their campaigns built on the search and native display capabilities of Microsoft Advertising and the mobile ad tech capability of InMobi’s advertising platforms.

InMobi and Microsoft have been in a strategic partnership since July 2018 to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation by providing them with insights, audience, and engagement platforms for a connected world. The partnership was expanded in 2019 as InMobi added the Microsoft Advertising products and solutions to its offerings in India.

Nick Seckold, VP of Microsoft Advertising APAC, said, “Over the last 2.5 years InMobi has done a wonderful job establishing Microsoft Advertising’s Indian footprint while doubling revenue over the same period. InMobi’s successful track record in India has led Microsoft Advertising to extend its coverage across SEA where they will be tasked with building close relationships with advertisers and agencies to grow the business in the region.”

As part of the expansion, Rohit Dosi, GM of the Microsoft Advertising business at InMobi, will take up additional responsibilities for growing the Microsoft Advertising business across the SEA market and leading the global relationship with Microsoft.

“The extended partnership between Microsoft Advertising and InMobi will enable marketers to deliver a unified brand experience to customers by bringing together the best of search and native display platforms across both organizations,” Dosi shared.

InMobi will be responsible for the sales, account management, marketing, finance, collection, and billing for Microsoft Advertising customers managed by InMobi, in India and SEA, from now onwards. The direct billing with InMobi is intended to enable a seamless and hassle-free experience for advertisers, from InMobi, as they leverage its services.

Meanwhile, commenting on the effect InMobi and Microsoft Advertising has done on their brand, Ankit Maheshwari, VP of marketing at Angara, an online diamond and gemstone jeweller, said, “The InMobi team is pivotal to the success that Angara witnesses with Microsoft Advertising. Their proactive approach has time and again enhanced campaign efficiency, driven innovation, and delivered healthy returns for the brand.”

Philippines – Indie Eats, GrabFood’s latest merchant discoverability program, has announced its nationwide expansion to spotlight small yet promising and quality food businesses. From Pampanga to Cebu to Davao and many more areas, Grab customers can now better appreciate local entrepreneurs as well as take advantage of their offerings.

The Indie Eats expansion comes just two months after it was launched in March, with the goal of assisting Grab’s vast community of small and local merchant-partners.

To celebrate the expansion, Indie Eats ambassadors social media personality Sassa Gurl and Filipino-French chef and YouTube content creator Erwan Heussaff re-united for part two of their entertaining yet unforgettable first encounter – and, much like how Indie Eats takes on the whole country. On their latest YouTube vlog, Sassa goes global with an unexpected and surprise appearance by Nico Bolzico in a meeting of the AFAMs! 

Aside from the new vlog, Indie Eats has also encouraged consumers to munch some of the newly-added merchant-partners to the program; Pampanga: Amazing undiscovered dishes await from new Indie Eats merchant-partners, Ollie’s Burger, Simple Morning by Station Cafe, and Kuya Jeck’s Tapsilogan!, Cebu: Try out something new and unexpected with the likes of Martin’s Burger House, Wow Lugaw, and Mojo Milktea!, Davao: Support your local quality small businesses with just a few taps and order from Patel’s Food Hub, Gotokai, and Dabao Buns!

Meanwhile, GrabFood is also currently holding their #IndieEatsReview challenge on TikTok, running until June 15, 2022! Where consumers can upload a video of themselves trying any Indie Eats offering and tag @grabfoodph to get a chance to win a year’s worth of GrabFood vouchers. 

Singapore — Singapore-based Esports company Ampverse is preparing for accelerated growth, expansion into Indonesia and the Philippines, and development of its new Web3 business unit with a series of new hires and promotions within its senior leadership team. The updates include Tine Hansen as head of commercial partnerships; Thomas Jouanno as head of marketing and D2C; meanwhile, Robert Gaxiola is appointed as head of creative; and Jenny Hall is named as head of strategic partnership.

Following a successful US$12m Series A fundraiser earlier this year, Ampverse plans to strengthen and scale several key business units, including commercial, web3, marketing and strategic partnerships.

Hansen is a senior commercial executive with over 10 years of experience in the entertainment industry, focusing on IP and branded content. Hansen has worked across Europe, the US, Latin America, and APAC, holding director-level positions at the likes of Sony Pictures and NBC Universal.

Meanwhile, Jouanno is a digital and tech entrepreneur with over 12 years of experience in digital marketing, e-commerce, data analytics, and product monetization. He has built and successfully exited several companies and previously served as president and CMO for Atmosol.

On the other hand, Gaxiola is a globally recognized and multi-awarded creative leader who will spearhead Ampverse’s creative direction and product evolution into original content and Web3 including bespoke metaverse experiences. He joins from Something Else, the digital content and NFT studio for the publishers Vogue, Esquire and Robb Report having previously held roles including executive creative director at Ogilvy & Mather.

A seasoned veteran with over 15 years of experience in business development and brand partnerships, Hall has been promoted to lead the company’s new strategic partnership business unit. She will develop new commercial products and partnerships across the group’s portfolio of IP.

Charlie Baillie, chief strategy officer of Ampverse, said, “When you’re building an innovative company in such a dynamic sector as gaming and diverse region as Southeast Asia and India, a world-class team is vital to realise the scale of our ambition. The latest additions to the management team all have their unique strengths but also share common traits – they are entrepreneurial, passionate, self-driven, and not afraid to challenge the norm.”

Over the last year, Ampverse increased its headcount from 60 to more than 100 employees and saw revenue grow during the same time period. Its portfolio of leading esports IP includes Thai esports brands Bacon, MiTH, and many more. 

Manila, Philippines – Shopper marketing consultancy, Behaviorally, has announced its expansion to the Philippines, servicing its clients from a new Manila hub, with Joy Abella-Yu, former senior director for business development and media at insights and consulting company Kantar Philippines, joining as the new vice president.

Aside from her previous role at Kantar, Abella-Yu has also held leadership roles at numerous research agencies, as well as client companies, including Johnson & Johnson, The Hershey Company, and Procter & Gamble, amongst others. She has over 15 years of market and consumer insights experience having worked throughout SEA and in the US. Abella-Yu will be joined by Kat Lim, Behaviorally’s director of client development, servicing brands in the region from the new hub.

According to Behaviorally, this move is the latest in Behaviorally’s rapid expansion in Asia and globally including new offices in Switzerland, Australia, New York City, France, and Germany. Behaviorally applies a digital-first approach to shopper research, a unique behavioural framework, state of the art AI technology, and decades of category expertise to define and diagnose the factors that influence consumer behaviour and drive shopper growth at both the digital and physical shelf.

Crispin Beale, Behaviorally’s group president, said that Abella-Yu’s extensive experience will help FMCG companies in and outside of Asia shape their go-to-market and retail strategies, as well as develop successful innovations.

“Plus her knowledge of media and digital trends make her the perfect fit for helping us implement our strategic vision in this region and guide our customers to success,” added Beale.

Seoul, Korea – South Korea’s taxi-hailing company Kakao Mobility, has announced its partnership with global mobility platform provider Splyt Technologies Ltd., to begin offering access to local ride-hailing services in seven Southeast Asian countries. Through the partnership, Kakao Mobility users will be able to book various transportation options in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia directly via the ‘Overseas Travel’ menu in the Kakao T app home screen. 

Without any additional settings or logins, users can also book local taxis, private cars, and motorcycles while abroad through the Kakao T app. The technical integration has been developed by Splyt, the superapp enabler, while the transportation itself is provided by Grab, Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing platform.

The company said, users will also have various payment options via the Kakao T app. In addition to the automatic payment function that allows users to pay with a pre-registered Korean domestic card, the Kakao T app also supports mobile phone micropayments, eliminating the hassle of users preparing local currency in advance.

Splyt’s CEO, Philipp Mintchin, shared, “We are proud to expand our partnership with Kakao Mobility across more and more countries, enabling true mobility roaming via the Kakao T superapp. As travel resumes across Asia, our partnership will truly lead to a win-win-win situation – for Kakao Mobility, for Splyt, as well as for the traveller.”

To further simplify a user’s journey, the Kakao Mobility – Splyt partnership ensures that, when users call a vehicle from abroad, the Korean departure and arrival address automatically converts into their local language via real-time automatic translation messenger and current location photo transmission service.

Dong-Hoon Shin, head of Kakao Mobility MaaS Business Unit, commented, “This partnership is a cornerstone in Kakao Mobility’s aim to develop into a global mobility platform. Being able to provide a global roaming service allows Korean domestic travellers’ seamless mobility experience to expand into the overseas market.

“In addition, our advanced technologies for realising mobility services, such as our own map and routing engine, allow us to introduce various mobility services in a global market beyond simple means of transportation,” Shin added.

In 2018, Kakao Mobility introduced its first roaming service in Japan, and in 2019, it began providing the service in Vietnam. Kakao has chosen to launch now, as it expects significant increases in cross- border travel across Southeast Asia, with vaccination certificates now ensuring convenient and safe travels across the region.

Singapore – Southeast Asia’s influencer platform Hiipi has expanded to the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore markets.

Phi Nguyen, Hiip’s co-founder and CEO, shared that by adding the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore to their network in addition to Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, the platform further cements its position as the number one technology solution provider for brands and influencers in the region. 

Hiip is an influencer technology solution provider using social data and end-to-end software to help more than 1,000 brands and advertisers connect and work with more than 20,000 vetted social influencers. Its in-house tech team provides both key opinion leader marketing and e-commerce capabilities so that brands can optimise their budgets for maximum returns.

Eric Rosenkranz, Hiip’s long-standing chairman, shared that as the US, European, and Asian clients look for opportunities in the rapidly growing SEA region, it is important to note that SEA is the fifth largest economy in the world.

“Almost 60% of SEA’s 680 million population is under the age of 35; and SEA’s digital economy is projected to exceed $300b by 2025, on the back of over 400 million active internet connections and a young, tech-savvy middle-class. Hiip has strongly positioned itself to take advantage of this exciting opportunity,” said Rosenkranz.

Meanwhile, Cecilia Cheng, Hiip’s CEO for Singapore and regional business director for SEA, said, “Singapore is the regional headquarters of many multinational brands and Hiip is now pleased to be able to provide influencer marketing & e-commerce technology solutions to our clients on a regional basis.”

Nikki Fedelicio, Hiip’s CEO for the Philippines, commented, “The Philippines is one of the largest and fastest-growing influencer markets globally. Hiip’s cutting edge technology will now be available in this thriving market.”

Bangkok, Thailand – Famous American fast-food brand Shake Shack will be opening 15 branches in Thailand by 2032, targeting the first flagship to open in Bangkok in 2023. The opening comes on the back of the expanded partnership with licensee Maxim’s Caterers Limited. 

According to Shake Shack, in keeping with Shake Shack’s fine dining heritage and commitment to thoughtful ingredient sourcing, quality, and hospitality, the menu will feature ShackBurger®, Chicken Shack and Chicken Bites, crinkle-cut fries, ShackMeister beer, Shack Red and Shack White wine, Shack-made lemonade and freshly spun frozen custard ice cream. 

Aligned with its mission to ‘Stand for Something Good’, Shake Shack will also partner with local producers, purveyors and artists to reflect and support the Thailand community.

Michael Kark, chief global licensing officer of Shake Shack, said that Shake Shack was born in New York, and Bangkok is another fantastic city with vibrant energy, friendly people and rich culinary traditions, and they can’t wait to serve Thailand their first ShackBurgers soon. 

“Our partner, Maxim’s, has set the bar high and we are thrilled to continue our partnership with them and bring our mutual commitment to quality ingredients and hospitality to our Thai guests,” Kark said.

Michael Wu, chairman & managing director of Maxim’s Caterers Ltd., commented, “We have been humbled by Shake Shack’s fans in Asia as well as the warm reception of Maxim’s in Thailand.” 

Wu added, “Maxim’s and Shake Shack have built a trusted partnership and we are excited to carry the relationship forward to Thailand.”

Bangkok, Thailand – IMAX Corporation and Major Cineplex, operator of movie theatres in Thailand, have announced plans to expand their partnership with the signing of an agreement for three new IMAX® with Laser systems in Thailand. The agreement is a big step forward for IMAX and Major Cineplex, Thailand’s exhibitor with a growing regional presence, and will boost IMAX’s overall presence in Thailand to seven screens.

Two of the three installations are upgrades in central Bangkok locations with one at the relatively new Icon Cineconic at shopping mall Iconsiam. The other upgrade is at Siam Paragon, where Major’s Paragon Cineplex is currently one of the largest and most visited multiplexes in the country.

Meanwhile, the third screen is a new build at the Mega Cineplex, an existing multiplex at the huge Mega Bang Na retail and entertainment complex in Eastern Bangkok, between the city centre and Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Vicha Poolvaraluck, CEO of Major Cineplex, shared that as part of their long, successful cooperation with IMAX, they are pleased to deliver these new systems into Bangkok’s iconic shopping and entertainment complexes.

“I look forward to experiencing the latest blockbuster films in one of the most immersive, high-quality theatre systems around. With the continuous evolution of Thailand’s film market, the premium movie experience represented by IMAX has become a driving force to attract audiences back to the box office and support the industry’s post-pandemic recovery,” Poolvaraluck said.

The newly renovated venues will feature IMAX with Laser, IMAX’s theatre experience. The 4K laser projection system features a new optical engine, custom-designed lenses, and a suite of proprietary technology that delivers brighter images with increased resolution, deeper contrast, and the widest range of colours exclusively to IMAX screens.

Meanwhile, Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, commented, “From our increasing number of screens to growing box office returns, Thailand is an emerging market for IMAX and this agreement marks a big step forward in capturing the opportunity at hand.” 

Gelfond added, “We are excited to expand our partnership with Major Cineplex, and look forward to further growing the IMAX brand in Thailand and around the globe as a premier destination for entertainment and events.”