PH-founded BPO raises $700K in Canada listing

MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine-founded BPO firm raised about $700,000 (C$1 million) in its landmark TSX Venture Exchange debut to expand in the Philippines and deepen its presence in Canada.

Asiatel Outsourcing Inc., which began operations in the Philippines in 2006, recently became the first Philippine-founded company to list on the TSX Venture Exchange, a Canadian public market for early-stage companies.

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“This listing gives us a public vehicle to grow the business the way we always have, without leverage and with a clear plan for where the next stage of growth comes from,” Asiatel CEO Jasjit Anand said. 

With fresh capital in hand, Anand said the company plans to add 250 delivery seats over the next two years, initially by expanding its Metro Manila footprint through additional offices or satellite facilities.

Currently, Asiatel employs more than 500 people and serves over 20 clients across eight countries. Revenue reached $5.9 million in 2025, up from $3.2 million a year earlier, representing about 80-percent growth.

The listing also forms part of Asiatel’s strategy to strengthen its presence in Canada, where it is opening a sales office while building a digital business development engine focused on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Although Canadian clients currently account for less than 10 percent of its customer base, Anand described the country as one of Asiatel’s priority growth markets.

“We will use this listing as a very credible entry into the Canadian market,” Anand said. “This listing opens doors for us, and the Canadian market is very vibrant.”

Going public also gives Asiatel a new acquisition currency through its publicly traded shares.

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Anand said the company intends to acquire majority stakes in businesses with complementary capabilities, initially purchasing 51 percent before potentially taking full ownership later. Potential targets could come from the Philippines, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe or South America.

At the same time, Asiatel is repositioning itself as artificial intelligence reshapes the outsourcing industry by expanding into higher-value services such as engineering and AI-enabled offerings.

“The BPO market is not disappearing,” he said. “It’s upgrading itself.”

Asiatel was founded as a captive back-office operation of a Hong Kong telco company. It has since evolved into an outsourcing provider serving startups and small businesses through an embedded extension-office model. /pai INQ