A group of young Japanese, Filipino, and Indian nationals is set to represent the Philippines at the 2014 Echelon tech start-up competition in Singapore come June this year for their mobile rewards platform which allows users to enjoy ?Libreng Load? (Free Mobile Airtime) for calls, text, and Internet browsing.
Yoyo Holdings bested 10 other local start-ups short-listed from over 100 applicants to emerge as winner in the Philippine leg of Echelon organized by e27 and supported by Kickstart Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom.
Through Echelon, Asia?s largest tech conference, start-up founders can meet investors and business leaders, pitch for commercial deals, raise the funding to grow their business, receive insights from speakers and mentors, forge partnerships with businesses, and even scout for talent.
Yoyo?s entry Candy is a solution that rewards users for performing micro tasks such as downloading apps, answering surveys, doing reviews, among others in exchange for prepaid load credit.
Candy was launched in the Philippines a year ago and has attracted 75,000 users within eight months through referrals and word of mouth. Following this, Yoyo released its service in Thailand, as well as in Indonesia, where it saw new user registration rocket up to 30,000 in a mere month.
?The people can get free load by doing the micro tasks so they like our system. Mobile usage in emerging markets like the Philippines is characterized by the prevalence of prepaid airtime and text messaging. As its burden on household income grows, the value of purchased airtime is approaching that of cash money,? said Yosuke Fukada, co-founder of Yoyo Holdings.
?We see mobile airtime as an opportunity to economically empower such users. In the future, we want to expand beyond the Philippines to other countries to create services that can make people?s lives better,? Fukuda added.
To use the service, the user has to sign up with Candy and choose a mission. Once the mission is carried out, he or she can receive free load instantaneously.
On the other side, Candy accepts partnerships with businesses to connect them directly to the consumers. The free mobile load incentives can be integrated in marketing promotions, market research, and loyalty rewards.
