Chikka open doors to Web. 2.0 and Social Network Developers

I just had a chat with Gio Bacareza who is now the business development director for Chikka.

According to Gio, Chikka has a revolutionary project that would require partnership with web 2.0 and social network developers. "We have a revenue model designed for them. This new development keeps me busy in looking for developers, whether companies or individuals."

Chikka has one of the biggest social network not only in the Philippines but worldwide also. Its social network is based in its community of 40 million buddies using Chikka's messaging application.

Gio believes there's money to be made on the community besides text and advertising. "We're opening up our platform for the developer community to play around similar to Google Open Social and Facebook. The difference we have is that (1) we have other revenue models for developers than just ads: we got messaging, content, subscription services and (2) we provide the bridge to the mobile world."

The Chikka platform is still in the process of completing its APIs and documentation. "The first developers we work with, we will handle closely on a 1-to-1 manner. They will help us shape the platform. When we are ready to open the sandbox, then we unleash it."

Parties interested can contact Gio at gio@chikka.com

Chikka: more OFW programs for 2008

Chikka is one of the few companies that we got to feature in the Philippine Internet Review.

Given its minimal capital in the beginning, Chikka started during the dotcom bust. However, customer service, innovation, and good technology are the company’s competitive advantage. The company protected its initial competitive advantage, the Chikka.com Instant Messenger, by patenting it.

Dennis Mendiola, CEO of the company and name as the 2006 Ernst and Young Information and Communications Technology Entrepreneur of the Year, strongly protects value in the chain by building on businesses that are viral in nature, where community begets community. Having the first mover advantage will make it expensive for rivals to get to the same level as where the company is now. His business wisdom was greatly influenced by his early dotcom ventures. It taught him to manage well his operating cash flow, have financial discipline, prudence, and sensibility in making projections.

Since 2003 when this interview was made, the company have all confidence to scale up because of its technology, knowledge, and rich implementation experience, on how to do Internet and mobile marketing the right way.

Instead of doing everything on their own, they expanded (and still expanding) through franchising by finding local counterparts in immediate target markets. The company already has operations and/or partners in China, Singapore, Malaysia Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and United States.

The company is the first local entity to strike a major deal with Google. It is one of the few organizations that have attained all CMMI Level 5 organization, ISO BS7799, and ISO BS15000.

In 2007, Chikka expanded its service offerings to the United Kingdom and Spain. It also won in the services category of the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards.

For 2008, as Michelle Pestano shared in the video enclosed here, the company will focus and launch new services that shall cater to the global Filipino in connecting them with their families.

Chikka.com is driving and pulling the SMS marketplace forward. It plays a great role on what makes the Philippines the most sophisticated and advanced SMS user in the world today.