PLDT venture capital unit buys stake in Phunware

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. said its newly formed venture capital unit in the United States had acquired a stake in US-based Phunware, which operates a fast-growing mobile platform with applications in marketing, analytics and navigation.

PLDT Capital invested $10 million in Phunware, with an agreement to expand the latter’s business to Southeast Asia within the next three months, a PLDT statement showed.

Specifically, PLDT subsidiary ePLDT will market and exclusively distribute Phunware’s mobile and multi-screen solutions in the Philippines and the rest of the region.

This is the first investment made by PLDT Capital, which had budgeted about $50 million in 2015 for investment in Silicon Valley startups that can help boost the telco’s core mobile business.

Phunware operates a multiscreen service platform. This allows businesses to engage with their customers through mobile devices, from indoor and outdoor location-based marketing and advertising to content management, notifications and analytics, to indoor mapping, navigation and wayfinding.