Globe’s venture capital arm a rebrand of GCVHI

Globe Telecom Inc. on Monday clarified that its venture capital arm—917 Ventures—is simply a rebrand of Globe Capital Venture Holdings Inc. (GCVHI), which operates the digital finance and advertisement businesses of the telco.

“From a corporate entity perspective, we are maintaining GCVHI, however, branding it as 917 Ventures,” said Rosemarie Maniego-Eala, chief finance officer of Globe Telecom.

917 Ventures is developing startups within the company.

Globe CEO Ernest Cu last week said the telco plans to invest an initial $100 million for the new venture, envisioned to develop technological ideas and spur the company to reach new vertical markets.

"Announcing the creation of 917 Ventures, an incubator that will develop and incubate new businesses beyond telco. Reinventing our assets will bring new innovations to new markets," Cu said in a post on his official Facebook account on Monday.

Incorporated on June 29, 2016, GCVHI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom Inc. which currently counts Adspark Holdings Inc., an advertising company, as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

It also counts as subsidiaries Mynt (Globe Fintech Innovations Inc.) which operates GCash (G-Xchange Inc.), providing financial services such as payments, remittances, loans, business solutions, and platforms.

Cu said all of Globe’s businesses that do not fall under its core telco operations will likely be transferred to 917 Ventures.

“Anything that doesn’t belong to the core will likely be put and fall into the 917 Ventures portfolio,” he said.

“The extensions of the telco product, that would remain with the [core] business,” Cu added. —VDS/BM, GMA News