Xurpas to transform into platform company

MANILA, Philippines - Listed technology company Xurpas Inc. is laying the groundwork to become a successful platform company in the likes of Facebook, Airbnb and Uber.

In a recent interview with The STAR, Xurpas chairman Nix Nolledo said platform companies make revenues from products they did not necessarily spend on.

He cited Airbnb as an example, which provides a platform for people who rent out their spare rooms or houses.

“They (Airbnb) never spent a dollar to build those rooms,” he said.

Likewise, he said, Facebook makes money from conversations initiated by people who have no affiliation with Facebook.

“So for us to be very, very large in the future, we need to be successful in the platform business and not just a product or service business,” he said.

At present, Nolledo said, almost nothing of the company’s revenue comes out of the platform business.

“We’re looking at the change in thrust in the future,” he said, adding that Xurpas is looking to launch a platform business this year.

He said the company is consolidating to prepare for long term growth.

“Every time we made an investment there was an expectation that it’s going to be grow immediately. A lot of people did not understand that it takes time. Those were components to long term platform strategy for us,” Nolledo said when asked about the decline in the company’s share price – from a 52-week high of P16.40 per share to a 52-week low of P6.02 per share.