PawnHero.ph wins Echelon Asia Philippines Qualifier

The country’s first online pawnshop, PawnHero.ph, was awarded as Echelon Asia Summit 2015’s top startup from the Philippines by tech powerhouses Amarit Charoenphan, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of HUBBA Co., Ltd; John Orrock, Founder of Future Now Ventures; Koichi Saito, Founder and General Partner of KK Fund; and Pete Bonee, Partner of Innosight Ventures.

“Being recognized as Philippine’s Qualifier to the upcoming Echelon Asia Summit is a big validationg for what PawnHero is about—getting great value through easy and safe online pawning. It’s only been a month since we launched but since day one, we’ve been getting a very positive response from our customers. We’ve been receiving countless pawn requests, ranging from regularly pawned items like jewelry, to personal items like luxury bags and gadgets,” Chairman and Co-founder, David Margendorff said.

Powered-up online pawning advantage

PawnHero seeks to solve the problem of expensive credit for base-of-the-pyramid customers in emerging markets by offering the lowest interest in the country—about half of what regular pawnshops offer, and by accepting a wider range of items with a higher item valuation through the use of modern technology.
“At PawnHero, we also believe that crushing the negative stigma and the inconvenient process of traditional pawning is key to providing better financial inclusion to our customers. For example, on top of the millions of regular pawners who visit a pawnshop every day, we’re also targeting the untapped AB market by accepting luxury goods,” Margendorff said.
Through its revolutionary online pawning process, PawnHero also turned over 27 million smartphones in the Philippines into instant pawnshops and converted over 900 2GO branches nationwide into a pawning center.

What’s Next for PawnHero

As Philippine’s top qualifier, PawnHero will join Echelon Asia Summit’s TOP 100 exhibit in Singapore alongside other tech startups hailing from 13 other countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam.
“We’re very excited to represent Filipino talent and introduce to our regional counterparts our revolutionary idea to disrupt the long-standing 3,000 year-old pawning industry. Aside from pawning, PawnHero will soon launch a selling category that will help more customers turn their items to cash, easily and safely,” Margendorff added.
For more information about online pawning, visit www.PawnHero.ph