Holiday traditions made more special with El Real

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Blurb: Traditions are what make the holidays extra special. Make your holiday traditions even happier with these easy tips.

In the Philippines, the Christmas season starts as early as the ‘ber’ months hit and that means that come September, the countdown begins. Normally, Christmas carols can be heard from just about anywhere. Holiday decorations start to be seen in every city and barangay - from the usual lampposts and center islands, all the way to houses fully-decked with blinking colorful lights. Christmas is one of the seasons that Filipinos always look forward to, year after year.

Even though going outdoors for long periods of time or flying out for vacations are not advisable just yet, enjoying the coming holidays with family and loved ones at home continue. Our Christmas traditions remain and, in fact, can still be made more enjoyable and memorable for everyone.

Here are just some ways to make your holiday traditions even merrier:

Noche Buena

Noche Buena is easily everyone’s favorite tradition. Having that “salu-salo” of the family’s favorite dishes has always been an integral part of Filipino Christmas celebration. Bonding over good food and delicious desserts, surrounded by the most important people in one’s life, is what makes for a truly memorable holiday celebration.

And what better way to celebrate the season than with El Real, the pasta that’s packed with iron, protein, fiber, and vitamin-A. While families have their go-to recipes for Noche Buena, they can make this year’s feast extra special by exploring unique dishes from El Real’s Real Pastabilities website. They can discover recipes like Pork Belly Pasta, Pasta Valenciana, and many other pasta dishes that the family will surely love.

Gift Giving

Of course, the highlight of every Christmas celebration are the gifts. The fun starts during the shopping period as people think of the most thoughtful items to give their loved ones. Sometimes they opt to send over home-made food gifts, like a Pizza Pasta or Sushi Bake, to show their appreciation, especially those who can’t celebrate with friends or family in person.

On Christmas day, the joy continues as kids and kids-at-heart excitedly open their gifts. Their smiles and thank-you messages make gift giving all the more worth it.

Make your Noche Buena even more memorable by serving new dishes like this Pizza Pasta and Pasta Valenciana. These and many other recipes are available at El Real’s Real Pastabilities website.

Nightcap

Just seeing the joy, love, and excitement in everyone’s faces, make the celebration all the more worthwhile, memorable, and priceless. Capping off the Christmas eve surrounded by the comfort and warmth of family and loved ones is truly what everyone could ever ask and hope for.

Whether one is going to small home gatherings with family and friends or celebrating virtually, the holiday spirit can still be felt in a lot of ways. It’s all about finding fun ways to show love and appreciation to family and friends this season -- from thoughtful gifts to inventive meals made with El Real pasta.

There are still a few days left to finalize Christmas plans. Make it more special by visiting Real Pastabilities by El Real for recipes that everyone at home will love.

For more information, visit www.realpastabilities.com.

El Real Pasta is a product of Universal Robina Corporation (URC), makers of popular food and beverage brands such as Jack ‘n Jill Pitattos, Nips, Magic Flakes, C2 Cool and Clean and Great Taste Coffee.

CHERRY opens new kiosk at SM City Grand Central

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CHERRY keeps getting bigger! 

Good news to all its patrons in central Luzon, the local tech brand brings your favorite products a lot closer as it unveils its newest kiosk at SM City Grand Central on November 26, 2021.

The opening was made more enjoyable with the special participation of the brand’s very own, Cosmic. The newly-opened CHERRY kiosk features phones, tablets, mobile accessories, and essentials among others.

To date, there are 11 CHERRY kiosks, 29 Cherry Mobile kiosks, and seven (7) in-shop kiosks nationwide. The brand has also been actively launching Concept Stores, now with 37 Cherry Mobile Concept Stores and eight (8) CHERRY Concept Stores across the country.

Enjoy your Christmas shopping by checking them out at 4th level, Cyberzone, SM Grand Central, Caloocan City. For online purchases, visit Cherry Shop PH at:

Cherry Shop PH: www.cherryshop.com.ph

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CHERRY is a Philippine-based company offering an extensive variety of products in communication technology, Internet of Things (IoT) system, home, personal, health and pet essentials, creating one ecosystem. Cherry carries an array of brands and services under its belt: Cherry Mobile, Cherry Prepaid, Cherryroam, Cherry Home, and Cherry Pet.

PLDT Enterprise readies next-gen business solutions for hybrid work setup

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PLDT Enterprise, the B2B arm of the country’s largest fully integrated telecommunications provider PLDT, announced that it is launching several products and solutions next year to deliver the connectivity needs of companies implementing hybrid work arrangements.

By early 2022, PLDT Enterprise is set to unveil new Smart Bro Promo Plans that will provide enterprise-grade 5G fixed wireless connectivity to businesses, enabling users to stay connected while using data-heavy tools and applications.

Vice President & Head of Wireless Marketing for PLDT Enterprise Chet Alviz said that for the upcoming year, PLDT Enterprise is gearing to provide the fastest connection speeds that can support the evolving needs of industries such as BPOs, banking, logistics and transportations, SMEs, and others.

“PLDT Enterprise has been looking into innovations that will help our partners address their common business challenges including connectivity, security, and network infrastructure, among others. We are actively developing solutions that would enable them to maximize their productivity and efficiency while also making their businesses more equipped for a hybrid work setup,” said Alviz.

These solutions will be suited for work-from-home employees across the country who need reliable and high-speed internet connectivity to work anytime, anywhere.

“Now that businesses are transforming into the perimeter-less environment, what they need is an enterprise-grade 5G fixed wireless connection that could sustain their daily workflow even while at home. Since most companies have adopted the work-from-home set-up, we endeavored to develop and provide solutions that empower our employees to stay connected and be productive wherever they are,” Shyr Amador, Head of IoT & Connected Devices for PLDT Enterprise.

Smart Bro provides reliable, high-speed internet connectivity and a flexible internet connection, leveraging on Smart’s nationwide coverage, utilizing LTE and the latest 5G technology. With Smart 5G, users will experience faster and more efficient mobile speeds with lower latency to support their work and digital lifestyle needs.

For more information, visit pldtenterprise.com.

PH Multi-Channel Commerce Platform developer startup, ChatGenie raises additional investment in recent fundraising campaign

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The fast-growing startup is currently gearing up for Demo Day with Accelerating Asia, who led the investment round

No stopping. ChatGenie founders Ragde Falcis and Nico Nicomedes Jr. are gearing up to get more investors onboard to scale their startup and serve more clients.

Fast-growing Multi-Channel Commerce Platform development startup company, ChatGenie, reached another milestone by raising additional capital in its recent fundraising campaign as part of Accelerating Asia’s fifth cohort.

The funding it secured will enable ChatGenie to expand its reach in distributing its product to as many merchants as possible. Currently, the pandemic-born startup has provided online payment and automated delivery services to more than 2,500 merchants.

With the increasing demand of online businesses now, the investment will also help ChatGenie to expand its operations by growing its team to cater to more clients and scale its services.

Opportunity in crisis

Founded a month before the pandemic hit the Philippines in 2020, ChatGenie proved its relevance in the market as online businesses thrive with more people setting up online stores. It was included in Forbes Asia's inaugural "100 to Watch" list because of its relevance in the market today.

To date, over 2,500 transactions have been done on Messenger, GCash and Viber using ChatGenie and a total of P150 million worth of transactions have been done via the store platform. It has partnered with a number of notable brands and digital wallet platforms, such as GCash, PayMaya, and PayMongo.

In November 2021, it introduced its MSME Booster Program which aims to provide micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) up to six months of free online store on Messenger, Instagram, Viber, GCash, and other business tools.

They provided Filipino MSMEs who want to try the features of ChatGenie, a 3-month ChatGenie Pro subscription for free to help them digitize their businesses.

Promising position in the market

For the fifth cohort, Accelerating Asia picked 9 startups in Asia, including the Philippines' end-to-end store platform ChatGenie, for its first batch of investments from its US$20 million Fund II.

Accelerating Asia is a Singapore-based early-stage venture capital fund that invests in pre-Series A startups from across Southeast and South Asia. Cohort 5 was Accelerating Asia's most competitive selection to date with 550 applications from 30 countries, of which only 1.5 percent were chosen.

“With retailers across Asia digitising at the fastest rate in history, ChatGenie's platform provides an easy on ramp to potentially millions of businesses to more easily interact with a larger customer base more efficiently. The company's executive team is a perfect fit for executing the business model which is proven by its stellar traction to date. Accelerating Asia is excited to provide support and be an early investor into ChatGenie as it expands across the Philippines and regionally,” Accelerating Asia General Partner Craig Bristol Dixon said.

“Accelerating Asia is a great partner for us in the current stage of our business. They provide us with the tools, network, and mentorship that we need to grow fast,” says Ragde Falcis, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of ChatGenie.PH.

Among the recent investors of ChatGenie are founders of their own startup – Shahab Shababi (MyKuya), Farouk Meralli (mClinica), Saul Molla (FlowerStore), Andrew Koger (GoodWork.PH), George Padin (Abstract Digital), Ray Refundo, Earvin Ang and Paul Cualteros (Qwikwire), Aldrich Tan (NextPay), and Dominick Danao (Magpie.im).

“I firmly believe companies will inevitably adapt to digitalization and AI. This is where ChatGenie will be very beneficial to them, especially when people are looking for convenience.

Convenience with ChatGenie's product will be a game-changer for e-commerce here in the Philippines. A platform where it is easy to purchase goods not only will help the startup ecosystem but also the e-commerce ecosystem here in the country. The timing is perfect for ChatGenie,” said Earvin Ang, Co-Founder and President of Global Real Estate Solutions Startup, Aqwire, on why he invested in ChatGenie.

Shabab Shababi, Founder of MyKuya and CEO of Machine Ventures, see’s ChatGenie’s recent success is a source of inspiration for PH startups to come up with innovative solutions to solve existing market problems.

“The pandemic has exposed the areas of our economy that need to be made more resilient. For that we need to simplify the way products and services are offered & make it more efficient. While our venture, MyKuya does that for the services industry, we saw ChatGenie covering this gap for the product sellers in the country. We need a new mindset for this new world and we are excited for ChatGenie to empower every product seller in the country,” said Shabab.

Looking ahead

In 2022, ChatGenie hopes to partner with more brands so it could provide its services to businesses that are thriving online.

“So far we have been able to partner with one of the biggest telecommunication companies to upsell our product to its business clients. We are looking for more partnerships like this where we can help their existing merchants grow while increasing the value that our partners provide,” says Falcis.

ChatGenie is now gearing up for its next online demo day on December 16 this year as part of Accelerating Asia’s Accelerator Program. It hopes to lure more investors in its next fundraising campaign.

“We accepted ChatGenie in the INQBATION: Leveling up B2B Startups 6-month program because we saw how much they grew during the incubation period so we were attracted to consider them for investment,” said Ben Alderson, Senior Head of Strategy and Investments of QBO Innovation Hub and Ideaspace Foundation Inc.

“We see ChatGenie continuing to grow customer adoption of their core product, adding additional features that make it easier for their users to operate their MSME businesses and expanding to new markets throughout SEA and potentially even further afield,” he added.

If you wish to invest in one of the Philippines’ fastest-growing startups, check out their website and contact them by visiting this link.

UnionBank attributes DX success, innovation in part to BSP's openness

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Embracing digital transformation early on, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) continues to blaze the trail and excite customers with innovative solutions driven by technology and co-creation. Henry Aguda, Senior Executive Vice President, the Bank’s Chief Technology & Operations Officer and Chief Transformation Officer, cites how enabling and essential it is to have your regulator’s support.

"A lot of people claim that if you're in a heavily regulated industry, you won't be able to become agile. Worse, the regulators may stand in the way," Aguda articulated as a panelist during the recently concluded IBPAP International Innovation Summit. But he was quick to say, "Strangely enough, they're the ones encouraging us to innovate."

UnionBank attributes its success in digital transformation and innovation in part to the openness of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which has been opening an environment that is conducive to thinking outside of the box. "I think regulation would normally be the blocker, but fortunately enough, the BSP has created a sandbox for experimentation, like UnionBank's API platform, and open finance experiments," Aguda said.

Another example is the BSP's push for digital payments. It was in late 2017 when the banking regulator launched the National Retail Payment System (NRPS), providing the framework for the modernization of retail payments in the country.

"Prior to the pandemic, the BSP already pushed for the NRPS. It was actually the BSP who was saying, 'hey, we should go to digital payments.' There was some resistance in the industry, but UnionBank signed up for it early. Now, BSP is looking into how to create a responsible regulatory framework for digital currency."

Aguda also mentioned a UnionBank experience with the BSP, reflecting its openness to innovation and willingness to collaborate despite tight timelines, with the customers’ benefit in mind.

"During the pandemic, we had to send out a new product that will allow us to launch an app that will enable our customers to cash out in 11,000 counters nationwide. And the framework for us to execute that, as well as the product approval -- we got that covered in a matter of two weeks. We apologized to the BSP team because we had to work with them over the weekend, up to 11 in the evening. So, talk about a regulator who's responsive to the times."

"Fortunately, our regulators don't stand in the way of moving quickly towards the goal of a more digitized financial industry," Aguda concluded.