Nasdaq firm buys Mangan

MANILA, Philippines — Society Pass Inc., a Nasdaq-listed company,  has acquired Pampanga-based restaurant delivery service provider Mangan.

Society Pass Philippines country manager Arbie Pagdangan said Mangan joins SoPa’s growing loyalty and data ecosystem.

“We combine the robust technology and operational efficiency of Mangan with our own brand building expertise. Combined with Pushkart, which delivers grocery food to consumers in Metro Manila, and Mangan’s operating focus in the provinces, SoPa is creating a food delivery behemoth to serve the 115 million people of Philippines,” Pagdangan said in a statement.

SoPa aims to double the number of its registered users to over 800,000 and drive app downloads to over 200,000 by the end of 2023.

“We look forward to building out our next generation loyalty platform as well as opportunistically acquiring market leading companies in F&B, lifestyle, digital advertising and travel verticals in the Philippines for the rest of 2022,” Pagdangan said.

Founded in 2017, Mangan delivers restaurant food from over 1,200 partner restaurants through its over 200 rider network to its over 500,000 registered users. Thus far, Mangan has generated more than 100,000 mobile app downloads and accumulated over 80,000 social media followers.

Despite the recent re-opening of the economy and the easing of multiple restrictions, online home food ordering remains the new normal in the Philippines, similar to trends in other parts of the world.

The convenience of ordering-in coupled with the work-from-home set-up and continued preference to avoid crowds encourage patrons to order as often as they did during the past two years.

Ralph Rile, co-founder and CEO of Mangan said the company now aims to expand Mangan beyond Luzon island to other regions in the Philippines.

“This is why joining forces with SoPa is our logical next step, and we are excited about the combined capabilities we will now bring to Mangan’s partners and customers,” Rile said.

Louie Alcantara, co-founder and chief technology officer of Mangan, said the e-commerce platform has achieved over $2 million in gross merchandise value yearly.

SoPa is an acquisition-focused e-commerce holding company with an ecosystem in Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thailand and with offices located in Singapore, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Angeles and Bangkok.