Angkas expects better business as yearend seasonal demand nears

DBDOYC, Inc., the company behind the motorcycle ride-hailing application Angkas, is betting on good progress in the second semester amid seasonal demand towards the end of the year.

George Royeca, chief executive officer and co-founder of Angkas, described the “Ber” months as good for retail businesses “as a lot of people are out.”

“Our [demand] seasonality is always good in the ‘Ber’ months so we are expecting good progress,” he said in a chance interview, referring to the last four months of the year.

The positive outlook comes as the company’s performance in the first half came out “good,” Mr. Royeca said, adding that “all of the retail outlets are up now.”

However, the wet season brings risks as fewer people book motorcycle rides when it is raining, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Royeca said the company is optimistic about using artificial intelligence (AI), especially in the transport segment.

“I think it helps us a lot. AI allows us to be able to do many more things,” he said, citing repetitive tasks, analysis and keeping big data. “Now we are able to analyze bigger sets of data faster and quicker and I think it’s all to machine learning and artificial intelligence.”

“It is still the beginning and there’s a lot of positive outcomes and results that we can expect from that. But we also have to be careful and take caution on how this is used. But at the very least for us we are very optimistic about AI,” he added.

Motorcycles-for-hire services are operating under a four-year pilot study as Republic Act (RA) No. 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, prohibits the use of two-wheeled vehicles for public transport.

At present, the government has limited the operation of motorcycle taxis to three companies: Angkas, Joyride, and Move It.

The proposed motorcycles-for-hire law, which will amend RA 4136, is pending at the committee levels in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. — Justine Irish D. Tabile