PLDT invests $1M in US app developer

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is investing $1 million into a venture with US-based fan app developer Hopscotch.

The move, done via PLDT Capital, is part of a broader strategy to market and exclusively distribute Hopscotch’s mobile solutions in Southeast Asia. The venture has already produced apps for fans of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), E-Sports Gaming Summit and the Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons and Maroon 5 concerts, PLDT said in a statement.

“More and more Filipinos are starting to use their smartphones to connect with brands and Hopscotch provides businesses, both large and small, the opportunity to engage with their customers in a more personalized way,” PLDT Capital co-managing director Winston Damarillo said.

Through the platform, businesses could customize their own apps by dragging and dropping video, music and social media assets into a Content Management System within a two-week period, the statement explained.

The interface can also deliver audience insights and revenue reports on merchandise and ticket sales, enabled by plug-and-play services integrated into the platform.

Moreover PLDT Capital has engaged a local digital content provider, MediaQuest Holdings’ Digital5, to market the product in the Philippines. Head of Digital5, coach Chot Reyes, said he planned to offer new services to produce cutting-edge graphics and short-form videos to be seeded within the app.

“We’re thrilled to partner with the PLDT group as our exclusive distributor in the Asean region,” Laurence Sotsky, founder and CEO of Hopscotch, said in the same filing.

“Not only does this partnership expand Hopscotch’s footprint into Southeast Asia, but it also gives us access to a wide variety of large-scale opportunities across sports, entertainment and retail,” he added. Miguel R. Camus