F(DEV), the premier corporate-led venture builder in the Philippines, marks its first anniversary by launching its new venture portfolio targeting big gaps in the market with technology-driven business models.
As technology takes on a more pivotal role in the country’s economic recovery, the venture builder aims to introduce digital innovations and disruptive platforms to empower Filipinos and Filipino businesses toward boosting the country’s digital economy.
F(DEV), or FUNCTION DEV, is backed by the Filinvest Group of Companies and has been under the radar since its establishment in October 2020, quietly growing and strengthening its portfolio of new businesses. Its first three digital startups address gaps in the Fintech and eCommerce space, with a heavy emphasis on enabling local businesses, especially the hard-hit MSMEs, to accelerate towards a digital future. With MSMEs accounting for more than 99 percent of businesses in the country, F(DEV) believes that technology is an essential driver for recovery and growth as the country tries to bounce back from the effects of the pandemic.
F(DEV) is led by its CEO and Managing Director, Xavier Marzan, who himself has been a startup CEO and previously led new digital product development and scale-up for two of the Fintech unicorns in the region. “Our mission at F(DEV) is to venture into technology-based businesses that serve and empower underserved markets as well as disrupt traditional industries. We have shown in the past year that we can take a startup idea from the ‘venture lab’ to market commercialization and scale-up quite rapidly – and we’ve done all of this in a lockdown environment.”
