Boxing icon Manny Pacquiao made his first tech investment in the Philippines early this month by funding the seed round of local car rental platform Graventure.
The tech startup caught the attention of Pacquiao and his business development team because it aims to solve an important transportation problem in the country ? to match car owners and the people who want to rent their vehicles.
At the moment, people who wish to rent a car in the Philippines must scour the Web for listings across a multitude of different sites. It becomes difficult to find a vehicle that matches their budget, scheduled, and desired specs.
Graventure said it will eliminate this problem by connecting car owners and agencies with car renters through a common Web and mobile platform set to launch the third quarter of 2018.
Centralizing the tens of thousands of vehicle listings to Graventure will ensure that car renters can find the vehicle that?s just right for them in a matter of minutes, the company said.
?I like that Graventure will solve a problem that will help many Filipinos in Manila and across the country. They will be able to find and rent a car much more easily, and that?s important. They can now focus on going places instead of surfing the Web all day,? said Pacquiao, who will also join the company as its official endorser.
The startup did not reveal the amount of money that Pacquiao, an incumbent senator of the country, invested in the company.
As a platform, Graventure said will also help car owners and agencies as much as it will car renters. For years, Graventure managing director and co-founder Gracy Fernandez was one of the tens of thousands of Filipinos who earned additional income through renting out vehicles, and she experienced the stress of this first-hand.
She said it was difficult to track rental inquiries across multiple sites, vet the legitimacy of car renters, and collect and receive payments. Graventure said it will simplify — and in some cases automate — the many pain points that Fernandez experienced as a car owner.
?Renting out even a single car before was a chore, but through Graventure, it will be easy to manage the rental of even multiple vehicles or a large fleet. Just as how many Filipinos have earned extra income by renting out their properties, I ultimately hope that more of us will be able to create a profitable business through Graventure,? said Fernandez.
While Graventure?s mobile app and online platform is still in development, car owners and car rental agencies interested in joining Graventure are encouraged to do so in advance of the launch in quarter three of 2018 at the company?s official Facebook group for car owners and car rental agencies.
Co-founder Kaiser Dapar, who is leading ongoing development of Graventure?s mobile app and online platform, is eager to create a product that caters to both car renters and car providers.
?Graventure will be an end-to-end solution for both sides of the marketplace. Car renters will be able to find, book, and pay for the car that?s just right for them, while car providers will be able to post listings, manage bookings, and process payments to more efficiently manage what is essentially their small business,? said Dapar.
Fernandez and Dapar founded Graventure in late 2017 with Marie Ritz Pay Seng, who said the company is addressing an overlooked need.
?Graventure was born out of a simple need that was overlooked by most transportation providers out there. We were lucky enough to be a part of an idea that wishes to not only disrupt the transportation sector in terms of car rentals/long-trips for renters in terms of how the services are rendered but most importantly, this platform makes it a priority to provide its users an affordable alternative,? said Seng.
