An e-commerce platform launched during the pandemic has helped more than 450 local micro, small and medium enterprises overcome export barriers and enter the world of international trade.
Caravan, developed by 1Export—one of the leading digital exporters in the Philippines—aims to serve the growing overseas Filipino population by bringing the best of the Philippines to anywhere in the world at wholesale prices.
Its tech-enabled platform also provides the local suppliers access to the overseas market, especially the growing community of Filipinos abroad who are looking to start and grow their own reselling businesses.
Caravan now has 15 international markets and ships to 800 online and offline storefronts globally. With Caravan’s export-compliant products and robust export solutions, coupled with 100-percent port clearance rate, the initiative has facilitated efficient partnerships between local suppliers and overseas Filipino resellers and businesses.
“Many MSMEs in the country have lost their local demand during the pandemic, and suffered from substantial losses. Through Caravan, we provide these businesses opportunities to create new markets and to continue to grow, all the while creating and empowering more Filipino entrepreneurs overseas,” said 1Export co-founder and chief executive Mel Nava.
With a wide range of supplier partners from the Philippines, Caravan works with everything from social enterprises to legacy brands. Caravan provided $20,000 worth of export sales for small businesses in the first quarter of 2021 and contributed $400,000.00 or P20 million in MSME export sales since the pandemic began.
For many of Caravan’s supplier partners, the concept of export used to be a pipe dream.
“At the heart of it, Caravan aims to empower Filipino MSME through exporting. It links MSMEs to the wide untapped and underserved market of Filipinos abroad. The Filipino overseas population is one of the largest in the world. Yet in a world where you can get anything and everything online, it is still extremely difficult to get Filipino products abroad. Caravan brings the flavors of home to our kababayans abroad,” said 1Exports chief operating officer Daniel Remo.
The impressive traction of Caravan at its early stage allowed 1Export to successfully secure formal funding from Singapore-based startup accelerator Iterative Venture Capital to support the upward-growth of the business model.
Aiming to revolutionize the export space, Caravan as an online B2B2C platform is the best place to be—with its continued commitment to develop and showcase Filipino MSMEs talent and change the lives of individuals through global trade.