KonsultaMD poised as next Philippines unicorn after GCash

MANILA, Philippines — Ayala-led Globe Telecom Inc. believes telemedicine app KonsultaMD has the potential to follow e-wallet giant GCash as the next unicorn of the Philippines.

Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu yesterday said the health unit of Globe’s corporate incubator 917Ventures has the potential to end up as the next unicorn of the country after GCash.

A unicorn refers to a startup that managed to reach a valuation of $1 billion.

“I think the potential relates to the size of the problem that we are trying to address and that has to do with health care. I would have to say that the biggest potential would be in the health care business, which is KonsultaMD,” Cu said.

“KonsultaMD could fulfill our shared vision of providing health care for all. We think that this can be the health care super app that Filipinos will use around the country for services, diagnostics and medicine delivery,” he said.

Nearly half of barangays across the archipelago have no access to health centers, exposing residents to illnesses due to the lack of medical intervention.

According to Cu, KonsultaMD aims to address this problem by providing Filipinos with access to medical services by calling its hotline or logging on to the app.

917Ventures is working on a digital health care solution that would allow users to do intricate types of consultations, remote monitoring of chronic diseases and referral to physical laboratories and hospitals.

Last July, the Ayala Group announced that it will consolidate its digital health care portfolio into one next year.

This involves the merger of KonsultaMD, HealthNow and AIDE into the new KonsultaMD super app by the first quarter of next year.

This would create the largest health tech app in the Philippines with a user base of more than two million.

The consolidation of the three health care apps unifies their services on online consultation, medicine delivery and home care under the KonsultaMD flag.

KonsultaMD dominates the telemedicine market with a user base of more than one million and an outlet network of over 50,000 as of end-June.

It gained its popularity among Filipinos at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when they had to consult their doctors through their gadgets to keep safe from the virus by minimizing contact.