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Actor John Lloyd Cruz sets his sights on mobile technology focusing on tricycles.

The app named “Trike Now” is designed as a tricycle booking app.

In a Facebook post by the City Information Office (CIO) of Cabuyao, Laguna, the actor was seen presenting the project in front of Mayor Rommel Gecolea.

Photo by: CIO Cabuyao (FB)

Also present during the meeting were Laguna 1st District Representative Dan Fernandez and officials of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association (TODA) based in Cabuyao.

Tech-based endeavors

John Lloyd is just one of the few showbiz personalities who are dabbling into the app and mobile technology for personal ventures.

Kapuso actor Dingdong Dantes has DingDong, a delivery app that he founded to help displaced showbiz workers earn a living during the pandemic.

The app's tagline is, “You Ring It, We Bring It.”

Its website said, “DingDong was born as a business idea when Dong Dantes personally delivered a flower arrangement with utmost care for his wife Marian's flower shop.

“The idea was shelved until the COVID pandemic hit and in its wake deprived many of their livelihoods. DingDong was founded in the midst of a pandemic on the premise that it would help build better lives, families, and communities by providing quality work, goods, and services.”

Dingdong said in a statement last August, “I have personally witnessed how the COVID-19 crisis affected our work in the entertainment industry, and how home-based businesses cope with and even thrive on it.

“These challenges and opportunities made the initiative and partnership imperative and timely. Building the platform became a cause bigger than ourselves.”

Before DingDong, BRWN drummer Stanley Seludo has launched a delivery app called Good Banda to financially help people working in the music scene affected by the pandemic.

Boxing superstar and senator, Manny Pacquiao, has also explored mobile technology to diversify his portfolio.

The Pambansang Kamao has announced the launching of his digital payment platform dubbed PayPac for this year.

The venture is in collaboration with Singapore-based digital remittance firm Remsea and designed to cater to brands, social influencers, fans, and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“This will make cross-border transactions easier for our countrymen especially the OFWs,” Manny told attendees of World Fintech Festival last year.

“With PacPay, we can help local businesses connect to global influencers and millions of fans around the world.”

The platform will tie in a rewards program to allow users to enjoy a variety of perks including autographed merchandise and event tickets.

Manny also has his own cryptocurrency called Pac tokens. It is dubbed as the first celebrity cryptocurrency.

Both Pac tokens and PayPac are operating under Manny's tech start-up, Pac Technologies.

Meanwhile, here are other celebrities who started a business amid pandemic: