Former Lazada CEO Ray Alimurung joins sari-sari store enabler Packworks' Board of Advisors

July 2023, Philippines – Packworks, a local startup that provides a business-to-business (B2B) open platform to sari-sari stores, welcomes Ray Alimurung, former Lazada Chairman and CEO, to its Board of Advisors.

Alimurung joins the ranks of former DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez, Angkas Founder Angeline Tham, ZQR Corp. founder and CEO Simon Paterno, who is also a former President and CEO of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and former Executive Vice President of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), and Integrated Microelectronics, Inc. CEO and Vice Chairman Arthur Tan, who is also President and Chief Executive Office of AC Industrial at Ayala - View.

"Mr. Alimurung has been at the forefront of the e-commerce industry in the Philippines, and his addition to Packworks' Board of Advisors brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our pursuit of further unlocking the potential of our saripreneurs and nanaypreneurs,” said Ibba Bernardo, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Packworks.

Alimurung is currently a general partner at early-stage investment firm Kaya Founders. Prior to this, he led Lazada's Philippine expansion as its first Filipino CEO from 2018 to 2022, and he also served as the CEO of aCommerce Philippines and worked with Amazon.

"We are excited about what he will bring to the table towards our mission of enhancing the B2B open platform for sari-sari stores and driving the growth of the country's e-commerce landscape. We look forward to his invaluable insights as we continue to uplift MSMEs," Bernardo added.

Packworks started as a solution for multinational companies in the Philippines in 2018 with only a few sari-sari store partners. After raising US$2 million in seed fund in August last year, it launched its mobile enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform and now provides technology solutions to over 200,000 sari-sari stores across the Philippines. Through the Sari.PH Pro app, sari-sari store owners can access pricing tools, inventory management, sales and revenue tracking, and working capital loans.

Packworks will represent the Philippines at the Startup World Cup 2023 in Silicon Valley, USA, in December after winning Ignite 2022's Startup World Cup (SWC) x Wildfire Pitch competition in October last year.