A mobile corporate resource planning company from the Philippines called Packworks has raised $2 million in early money to launch its platform and is developing a super app.
Fast Group, a major participant in logistics, and the private equity company CVC Capital Partners led the investment.
According to the company, Packworks will utilize the additional funding to improve its services for partners and nearby sari-sari businesses and develop its smart app.
There are also plans to create a direct division that deals with these retailers and a platform that serves as a liaison between the brands, financial institutions, and the owners of such outlets. According to Packworks, this would eliminate intermediaries and save expenses for store owners.
The firm, established in 2018, intends to digitalize sari-sari stores by providing inventory, accounting, and data management services. Its smart app ties these retailers directly to suppliers and financial institutions.
“We observed that these stores have a hard time tracking their inventories and getting supplies for their stores, especially the ones in the [more rural] provinces. That’s when the idea of making a one-stop app for everything pops out,” said Packworks co-founder Bing Tan.
The business, which initially had five sari-sari stores as partners, claimed to have a network of 150,000 outlets across the nation and stated it wants to have 220,000 partners by the end of 2022 and 500,000 partners by the end of 2023.
