Dennis Mendiola
Dennis Mendiola (Born September 1, 1967) is a Filipino-American inventor, multiple patent holder, engineer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist. He is a senior technology advisor and former governor of the Philippine Red Cross credited with pushing mobile and internet-based innovations for the humanitarian organization.
In 1996, Mendiola along with fellow investment bankers Vincent S. Perez and Patrick Go founded Next Century Partners, an investment fund focused on the Philippines even as the Asian Financial Crisis spurred economic and political turmoil in the Southeast Asian region. The group saw opportunity in a newly deregulated Philippine telecommunications sector, investing in such companies as Smart Communications which later became the Philippines’ largest mobile carrier. Among the fund’s co-investors were George Soros’ Soros Fund, Mitsui & Co., Ed Bass of the Texas Bass Brothers and the Singapore Port Authority.
Mendiola later co-founded mobile applications developer Chikka in 1999 and served as its CEO until 2008. The company would become a pioneer in the Philippine tech industry, focusing on emerging markets throughout the Asia-Pacific. As an inventor, Dennis Mendiola holds several patents in the United States Patent Office and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore for methods and processes that allow people in emerging markets to have access to web and mobile communications, commerce, and content services.
Early life and education[edit]
Dennis Mendiola spent his childhood and basic education in Manila. He went back to the United States for college at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated double summa cum laude in Economics from the Wharton School of Business, and Electrical Engineering from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering. Mendiola returned to the Philippines in 1992 to volunteer in strategic management services in the transformation of the former US Naval Base in Subic Bay into a freeport, going back to the US in 1994 to pursue his MBA at the Harvard Business School.[1]
Career[edit]
Mendiola began his professional career as a business analyst for McKinsey & Co. from 1990. In 1992, he left New York and moved back to the Philippines to serve as deputy administrator for corporate planning for the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) from 1992 to 1995 under then Olongapo mayor and SBMA Chairman Richard Gordon. Mendiola oversaw the development of the Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone and the privatization of SBMA’s facilities following the termination of the US-Philippines Military Bases Agreement of 1947, the eventual US military bases pullout from the Philippines and in accordance with the Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992.
After completing his MBA studies in Harvard in 1995, Mendiola went back to investment banking as a derivatives trader for Bankers Trust in Singapore. In 1996, Mendiola set up the Singapore-based investment firm Next Century Partners with fellow ex-investment bankers Vincent S. Perez and Patrick L. Go. Despite the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, the company had raised $33 million to invest in Southeast Asian companies, primarily for Filipino-owned private companies. By 1998, the company had raised more funds from successful stock purchases from the Asian stock exchange slump and from additional funding from investor groups which included George Soros,[2] Ed Bass, Mitsui & Co. and the Singapore Port Authority. Mendiola continued to serve as managing director for the fund until 2008. One of the fund’s most notable investments in its portfolio was a 14.7% stake in the Philippine-based private holding company Macondray & Co. which held 50% ownership of Del Monte Pacific Resources, now a subsidiary of Del Monte Pacific Limited.[3]
In 1998, Mendiola founded the Philippine-based Incredibly Fast Internet Company.[4] The tech company later developed the Chikka instant messaging service launched in 2000 which allowed the sending and receiving of SMS text messages between mobile phones and personal computers via the Internet.[5] Chikka became an independent entity from Incredibly Fast Internet Company in 2001, with Mendiola serving as Founder and CEO of what was then called Chikka Asia Inc. Mendiola later became the Chief Imagination Officer of the company after stepping down as CEO in 2007.[6]
Chikka later diversified into other mobile value-added services: Bidshot, an online and SMS-enabled auction site;[7] Startxt, a messaging service that allowed subscribers to receive updates from celebrities in real time;[8] Startxt’s offshoot StarCaller which delivered celebrity voice calls on a subscription basis;[9] and CrushCow which was a mobile matchmaking and messaging service.[10]
Mendiola once again worked with Richard Gordon this time at the Philippine Red Cross where now Philippine Senator Gordon was also the incumbent chairman of the humanitarian organization.[11] Mendiola served as governor from 2008 to 2010, and has since continued to work as the Senior Consultant for Research and Development, reporting directly to the Secretary General and Chairman.
In 2009, Chikka was acquired by Philippine telecommunications firm Smart Communications, Inc. as part of the telecommunications company’s portfolio diversification efforts particularly into the technology industry.[12] Mendiola continued to work with Chikka and Smart until 2016, helping develop mobile and internet-based products and services including Smart’s PowerApp and PisoNet, both of which allow subscribers to use the Internet at very low charge rates.[13] Currently, both the Power App and PisoNet are still operational, but Chikka's messaging service permanently shut down operations in 2018.[14]
In the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Mendiola, who had by then also founded VOXP Technologies and Innovations,[15] developed RC143 which is the official contact tracing and rapid response app of the Philippine Red Cross.[16]
As an inventor, Dennis Mendiola has authored and co-authored several patents over the course of his career, registered with both the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.[17] Mendiola’s inventions focus on mobile technology, instant messaging, internet connectivity and e-commerce.
References[edit]
- ↑ Torrevillas, Domini M. "Bagumbayan reborn". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ Street Journal, Eduardo LachicaStaff Reporter of The Wall (1998-03-06). "Fund With Ties to Soros Will Invest in Philippines". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "Project Pia Colada". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "RP is launch pad for mobile IM". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "I text therefore I.M." Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "Bidshot.com takes online auctions to cellphones". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "Star instant messenger: Pinoy txtmania on-line". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "ANOTHER CHIKKA INNOVATION: VOICE-BASED MOBILE VAS". www.newsflash.org. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ Times, The Manila (2006-01-02). "'Chikka mo na lang…'". The Manila Times. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "National Red Cross | Storm Disaster Appeal | Philippines | The Work". Campaign Asia. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ News, ABS-CBN (2009-11-13). "Smart to complete Chikka purchase next month". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ Times, The Manila (2014-09-09). "Smart offers mobile internet access for P1". The Manila Times. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ Bayle, Alfred (2018-03-07). "Chikka shutting down after two decades of free texting service". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "PH Red Cross fetes donors – Manila Bulletin". mb.com.ph. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ Times, The Manila (2020-04-09). "Red Cross launches mobile app for Covid-19 response". The Manila Times. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
- ↑ "Google Patents". patents.google.com. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
This article "Dennis Mendiola" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Dennis Mendiola. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
