Xurpas Launches Blockchain Initiatives
Xurpas Inc. (PSE: X) announced the first of several major projects leveraging blockchain technology. ODX Pte Ltd (ODX), a subsidiary of Xurpas incorporated in Singapore, stands for the Open Data Exchange (and pronounced “Oh-dex”). ODX intends to allow consumers in emerging markets to access the internet for free, through sponsored data packages.
ODX intends to sell up to $100 million worth of ODX tokens, and currently has initial down-payments on allocations totaling over $50 million. Proceeds from the sale shall be used to build the ODX infrastructure, as well as for business development with internet service providers, publishers and other partners. The tokens are not available for sale to citizens or residents of the Philippines, United States or China.
“We have always kept an eye out for disruptive, game changing technologies. Two decades ago, the mobile internet was an example of this, and today it is the blockchain,” says Nix Nolledo, Xurpas Chairman and CEO. “We have been studying the technology and believe that our existing businesses will benefit significantly from the scalability, efficiency and security of the blockchain, while making it possible to introduce new business models that would not have been possible otherwise.”
ODX is the first of several blockchain projects that Xurpas will launch in 2018.
Xurpas recorded a net loss of PhP77.93 million in the first three months of 2018, coming from earnings of PhP103.24 million for the same period in the previous year. This stemmed from lower posted revenues of PhP327.03 million versus PhP749.00 million in Q1 2017.
The group’s mobile consumer segment was hit by various challenging market conditions, such as new policies governing Value-Added Services (VAS) from one of its major telco partners, as well as spill-over weakness in its digital advertising business, Art of Click, from 2017. Despite the net decrease in total revenues, the group’s enterprise and HR technology segments increased by 11% and 164%, respectively, attributed to its aggressive growth plans and improving diversified client mix. Art of Click Pte. Ltd. also implemented measures to improve its client mix coming from its revenue decline in the previous year, but the immediate effects have not yet been realized in the first quarter of 2018.
