Toki, the first-ever social commerce platform in the Philippines exclusively dedicated to collectibles, has officially launched in the country. Toki’s mission is to offer a streamlined and fully secure experience for the growing collectibles market.
According to a study by Toki and GMO Research, the Philippine market is currently valued at $5B. Despite this sizable number, buyers and sellers still find themselves navigating an unsecured and convoluted trading journey, without a dedicated marketplace to seamlessly facilitate transactions. To date, collectors traverse the buying process – from discovery to purchase – in a fragmented manner.
“We at the Toki team are all passionate collectors ourselves,” shared Zoe Ocampo, one of the founders of Toki. “For so long, the process of searching for collectibles and purchasing an item hasn’t been ideal. Usually, we start the journey with social networks or messaging applications, and from there, one has to sift through at least 10 different sellers, unsure of the credibility and authenticity of their products. It has been consistently tedious and filled with unnecessary friction.”
For its launch, Toki will feature first four categories – Sneakers, LEGO, NBA Cards, and Funko Pops! – some of the most popular collectibles in the market.
Custom fit to respond to the needs of both buyers and sellers
As a platform built to support the entire community, Toki is dedicated to not only making the journey safer but also more exhilarating for both buyers and sellers. Aside from proposing a digital marketplace, Toki is also a livestream auction platform, harnessing the power of real-time engagement to enhance the collectibles trading experience.
Toki enhances the quality of the transactional process for sellers, many of whom operate through social media – limiting them when it comes to setting up an inventory system and storefront management. This leaves sellers dealing with unsecured payment systems, manual logistics management, and customer support, among others. These are significant challenges, particularly for sellers who are frequently solo entrepreneurs.
Ensuring a straightforward and seamless end-to-end journey for sellers is also why Toki has partnered with GCash and NinjaVan to structure and create tailored solutions.
“A well-organized, responsible, and trustworthy seller is an essential element for a successful buying experience,” said Jules Jurado, co-founder of Toki. “Toki aims to address this by ensuring that its marketplace only hosts sellers who have successfully passed our selection and scoring system and that all products are checked by the Toki verification team, so there would be no question whether the product you’re getting is genuine and from a reliable source.”
Made for collectors by collectors
Among the founders of Toki, not only do they share a common passion for collecting, but Zoe Ocampo, Jules Jurado, Prabh Singh, and Frederic Levy are also former executives of GCash, collectively bringing extensive experience in technology and venture building.
Toki’s innovative approach to the digital collector’s market has gained support from top-tier angel investors and notable strategic backers such as Anthony Oundjian of BCG, Brian Cu of SariSuki, Ernest Cu of Globe, venture capital firms Kaya Founders and Foxmont Capital Partners, and Bigboy Cheng, one of the most famous sneaker, toys and art collectors in SEA.
Amid the continuously surging demand for collectibles in Southeast Asia, Toki has emerged to meet this trend — the platform arriving at the right momentum.
“We are seeing an opportunity to build a connected collectible ecosystem,” said Frederic Levy, co-founder and CEO of Toki. “We engage extensively with various collector communities, groups of enthusiasts like us. As we continue to expand to include more categories, it becomes increasingly apparent that the marketplace is just the inception of what Toki has to offer. We are already working on several initiatives to continue fueling the passion of all collector communities, first in the Philippines, and potentially in new markets across the region.”
