Brave Connective taps Plug and Play to expand SEA martech footprint
The martech venture builder taps into Plug and Play’s startup ecosystem to fast-track regional growth.
Martech venture builder Brave Connective Holdings Inc. (BCHI) is joining forces with global innovation platform Plug and Play to supercharge its regional expansion and product roadmap. The move signals BCHI’s intention to fast-track innovation across its multi-brand ecosystem, linking local enterprise needs with international startup talent and tech.
For marketers keeping an eye on emerging martech ecosystems in Southeast Asia, this partnership is worth noting. BCHI is a relatively young player backed by Globe Telecom’s venture arm, 917Ventures. It operates multiple B2B platforms across adtech, CPaaS, and customer engagement, including AdSpark, Inquiro, m360, and Rush—all of which serve enterprise clients across the Philippines and the wider SEA region.
The new partnership opens the door for Brave Connective to access Plug and Play’s global startup network of 100,000 founders and 550+ corporate partners, as well as its innovation hubs across 60 cities worldwide.
Short on time?
Here’s a table of contents for quick access:
- What’s the Brave–Plug and Play deal about?
- Why this partnership matters now
- What marketers should know
What’s the Brave–Plug and Play deal about?
Brave Connective will co-develop an Innovation Strategy Roadmap with Plug and Play to accelerate its growth plans. That includes spotting new technologies, forging startup partnerships, and participating in Plug and Play’s APAC Summit and global expos.
More than just networking, the goal is to integrate startup-led innovation into Brave’s existing portfolio. That means bringing in new AI, analytics, and loyalty technologies that can be productized across m360 (omnichannel communications), AdSpark (data-driven advertising), Inquiro (privacy-first analytics), and Rush (loyalty and CX).
“We hope to integrate the strengths of our portfolio companies to help Philippine enterprises scale in the digital economy,” said Brave president and CEO Nikko Acosta. “This partnership gives us access to global innovation practices and opens up new collaboration opportunities in other markets,” he added.
Why this partnership matters now
Southeast Asia’s martech and adtech sectors are heating up as local enterprises seek scalable, data-compliant tools. But gaps remain when it comes to ecosystem maturity, startup readiness, and the availability of trusted regional enablers.
Brave Connective is positioning itself as a bridge—bundling together core services in CPaaS, analytics, adtech, and loyalty, and now plugging directly into a global innovation network. This type of venture building approach is still uncommon in SEA markets, which gives Brave a potential edge.
For Plug and Play, the partnership helps deepen its APAC presence beyond Singapore and builds a case for greater cross-border startup involvement in solving local business challenges.
This isn’t just about martech features or campaign tools. It’s about long-term transformation, infrastructure, and giving regional enterprises a way to experiment with scalable digital solutions without building them from scratch.
Valery Moniaga
What marketers should know
Here’s why the Brave–Plug and Play deal deserves a spot on your radar:
1. Brave is quietly building a modular martech stack.
Brave’s portfolio targets key parts of the digital customer journey: communications, advertising, analytics, and loyalty. Marketers working with SEA enterprises may find this an alternative to bigger, costlier platforms that lack regional nuance.
2. Expect faster rollout of AI-powered tools.
The Plug and Play ecosystem gives Brave early access to vetted startups and emerging tech. This could mean new AI, automation, and privacy-first features coming to its platforms—potentially faster than market incumbents.
3. Global startup validation could boost trust.
For brands wary of unproven local tools, this partnership adds a layer of global credibility. The Playbook innovation platform and Plug and Play’s startup curation process help ensure Brave isn’t just chasing shiny tech but bringing in solutions with real traction.
4. Philippine brands get a new testbed.
As Brave expands its regional play, expect the Philippines to remain its innovation lab. Marketers in this market could benefit from early access to pilots or co-creation programs.
Why this matters for your martech roadmap
Brave Connective’s partnership with Plug and Play marks a shift toward deeper startup–enterprise integration in Southeast Asia. For marketers, it reflects a growing trend: platforms are no longer just vendors—they’re becoming orchestrators of ecosystems.
While it's early days, this alliance signals that regional martech growth won’t just come from homegrown scale-ups or imported SaaS. Instead, expect more hybrid models blending local insight, global validation, and startup-driven agility.
Whether you’re an enterprise leader, agency partner, or regional strategist, Brave’s next moves are worth watching—especially if you’re mapping out your martech stack in APAC for the next 12–18 months.
