Boxing icon and Philippine senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao is expanding his game beyond the boxing ring. This time, fully funding the seed round of Philippine-based car rental platform Graventure for an undisclosed amount. Pacquiao’s latest investment, his first tech investment in the Philippines, comes barely a month after he invested in Singaporean blockchain startup Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX).
The boxer-senator, who has a net worth of over P3 billion ($58 million), said he invested in Graventure because of the company’s vision of simplifying the process of renting a car in the Philippines. “I like that Graventure will solve a problem that will help many Filipinos in Manila and across the country. They will be able to find and rent a car much more easily, and that’s important.
They can now focus on going places instead of surfing the web all day,” said Pacquiao, who will also join the company as its official endorser. Graventure is set to launch in the third quarter of 2018 and managing director and co-founder Gracy Fernandez told DEALSTREETASIA that Pacquiao’s investment will be used to fund product development of both the web and mobile versions of the Graventure platform.
In an interaction with this portal, Fernandez added that while there are other car rental agencies in the Philippines with existing online booking, Graventure, founded in late 2017, will be the first to aggregate multiple car rental agencies and individual car owners into a single marketplace. “Graventure is the first car rental platform in the Philippines. This should make it easier for consumers to find the right vehicles that match their budget, specifications, and schedule; and for car providers to manage their vehicles and rentals,” she said.
The platform will first focus on major cities across the Philippines, including Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Baguio, and Iloilo, where Fernandez said there is a pressing need for a more efficient way to rent vehicles. “We would also like to explore expansion into other Southeast Asian markets in the long-term,” she added. Graventure is just one of the many investments that the eight-time world boxing champion Pacquiao has made from his string of major wins in the field of professional boxing.
The Pacquiao Group of Companies Inc currently owns or has a stake in several businesses, including Roadhaus Economy Hotel, Pacman Wildcard Gym, JPM Shalom Travel and Tours, Pacman H20, Team Pacquiao Store, JPM Phoenix, Pacman Beach Resort, JMP Buildings. Based on his 2016 statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth, Pacquiao’s more than P3-billion asset is composed of 46 per cent real properties, 43 per cent cash and jewelry, 7 per cent various investments, and 4 per cent transportation equipment.