What GCash Going Public Could Mean for Philippine Startups w/ Julian Schumacher of OneLot
GCash is more than a household name—it could become a major test for the future of Philippine tech.
In this episode, we decode what a potential GCash IPO could mean for founders, investors, and the local market, from growth and profitability to investor trust and the possibility of more homegrown tech companies going public.
EPISODE TIMELINE
00:00:00 – Cold open on GCash and local markets
00:03:00 – Founders only intro music
00:06:00 – Why the GCash IPO matters for the Philippines
00:09:00 – Welcoming the guest back to the show
00:12:00 – From Bain and private equity to founder
00:15:00 – Scaling Gorillas during the pandemic
00:18:00 – Moving to the Philippines to build Dart
00:21:00 – Shutting down Dart and learning from failure
00:24:00 – Building OneLot with structure and discipline
00:27:00 – How OneLot finances used car dealers
00:30:00 – Raising again after failing the right way
00:33:00 – Venture scale versus lifestyle business
00:36:00 – Mid-roll break and Paymongo ad
00:39:00 – GCash history from SMS to super app
00:42:00 – Pandemic boom and network effects flywheel
00:45:00 – Regulatory shifts on QRPH and gambling
00:48:00 – How IPOs and roadshows actually work
00:51:00 – Diving into the prospectus numbers
00:54:00 – Payment revenue and the falling take rate
00:57:00 – Gross margins and operating leverage
01:03:00 – Valuation expectations and public market start
01:12:00 – What the IPO means for the ecosystem
QUOTE FROM HARM-JULIAN SCHUMACHER
"Revenues are growing, right, even with some dips, but you see a dip, costs are growing less strongly. You have like effects of being bigger by leveraging your cost base more, and GCash basically becomes more and more and more profitable..And the entire, I think the entire tech ecosystem in not only the Philippines but probably in Southeast Asia is rooting for that. Because I mean, if this works well and they go public, right, this means you can create, you have the local IPO market as an exit opportunity..”
Resources:
LinkedIn (Harm-Julian Schumacher): https://www.linkedin.com/in/harm-julian-schumacher/]
LinkedIn (OneLot): https://www.linkedin.com/company/onelot/
Website: (OneLot): https://www.onelot.ph/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
PayMongo: https://www.paymongo.com/
This episode is brought to you by Villgro Philippines: , Paymongo, GoTyme Bank & SeekCap