JLabs, an offshore tech development startup based in Quezon City, recently secured $500k in funding after participating in Season 9 of leading business reality show ‘The Final Pitch’, hosted by serial entrepreneur John Aguilar. The half-million dollar deal is a multi-year engagement for projects with UnionDigital Bank, offered by Henry Aguda, President and CEO of UnionDigital Bank and investor-judge on the show.
JLabs also received additional support from other investor-judges from ‘The Final Pitch’. The startup gained a strategic partnership from Pantheon Holdings President Brian Poe-Llamanzares, who offered his expertise in marketing and branding strategies for local client acquisition. Additionally, JLabs received support in establishing connections with the UK’s tech ecosystem through Her Excellency Laure Beaufils, the British Ambassador to the Philippines.
Founded in 2018 by its CEO Julius Marvin San Pascual, JLabs dedicates itself to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative, cost-effective, and world-class web and mobile technological solutions and services to businesses worldwide.
According to San Pascual, JLab’s services provide businesses with technical expertise they need to manage or process a project at a low cost. “We offer up to 70% savings via offshore services, acting as a fractional Chief Technology Officer (CTO), by utilizing documents, templates, and automations to speed up software development,” he said. Fractional CTOs are typically senior engineers that provide on-demand services at the fraction of a cost of a full time executive for companies that do not have tech leadership experience in managing projects or processes.
In his pitch, San Pascual made it clear that partnerships are a key component of driving sustainable growth for the company. “We are in a good position to humbly not ask for funding, but instead look for mutually beneficial strategic partnerships, advisors, and mentors that will help guide us for our aim of growth,” said San Pascual initially in the season finale of ‘The Final Pitch’. “We most especially want foreign partners who will help us find offshore business opportunities that can be both strategic and mutually beneficial.”
JLabs has so far developed solutions for finance SaaS businesses, e-commerce platforms, on-demand motorcycle taxi apps, and more. These include engagements with NFTing in France, Finova and Refuel Mobile in Canada, AppZaloot in Australia, US Housing Exchange in the United States, as well as Pieza, Juan Catch, Maharlikart, and BackRyde in the Philippines.
JLabs’ new funding is expected to help strengthen UnionDigital Bank’s software development. “We’re excited because we know the bank will make full use of whatever we develop, we can even share the IP,” Aguda said. “Hopefully the other investor-judges will also have great projects with JLab, considering San Pascual’s grit and deep technical knowledge.”
Other contestants on ‘The Final Pitch,’ encompassing a mix of technology and non-technology entrepreneurs, also received invaluable offers from the program’s other investor-judges that included branding consultation, marketing support, AI-integrated tools, access to overseas markets, as well as business contracts.
Overwhelmed by the support his company achieved on the reality show, San Pascual said, “I’m very grateful to be here and get an offer more than what we are looking for. Overall, we are very grateful and happy. Hopefully, we can inspire other entrepreneurs.”