SFIO announces new F&B expansions in Malaysia and regional headquarters in Dubai

Following these latest developments, the global investment holding company intends to support their expansion efforts through proprietary software systems by their technology division

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This week, global investment holding company Starfleet Innotech, Inc. (OTC: SFIO) announced a series of expansions across new markets for their food and beverage businesses. Through their Malaysia-based team, SFIO has launched Hungry Dudes, a mall kiosk concept for cafe fare in Kuala

Lumpur, with additional sites reserved for later this year. SFIO will soon be converting these Hungry Dudes kiosks into locations for their flagship F&B business, Epiphany Cafe.

Over the next two years, the company is targeting to launch at least 100 licensed outlets, establish centralized commissaries to service them, and strike strategic partnerships with convenience stores to boost brand awareness. By the end of 2023, SFIO plans to have flagship sites for Epiphany Cafe in 10 major regions.

To that end, SFIO also just opened their regional headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, following the successful completion of their registration in Dubai. This office will oversee the conglomerate’s growth in the region, beginning with negotiations with key distributors for the company’s Gorgeous Coffee products. SFIO’s Dubai team is now conducting market research and feasibility studies, paving the way for Epiphany Cafe’s entrance into the Middle East. This regional office will also serve as the remote hub for SFIO’s technology division, managing the conglomerate’s subscription-based software and hardware offerings, such as the Neurosky health monitoring wearables that the company recently secured exclusive distribution rights over within the United Arab Emirates.

“We kicked off this quarter with the announcement that 2022 will be the year we begin expanding aggressively,” said CEO Jeths Lacson. “Not even halfway through the quarter, we’ve already made significant progress entering two new markets with our F&B offerings.”

“That said, it’s important to note that we are taking a ‘measure-twice, cut-once’ approach to this growth—entering markets only after we’ve done the requisite studies and properly localized our playbooks,” Lacson said. “We’re excited about all the immediate growth we’re seeing, both in terms of global footprint and shareholder value. But we want to ensure this growth is sustainable in the long-term. So we’re investing heavily in understanding the markets we’re entering.”

To further facilitate that growth, SFIO is also building out the capacities of its Philippines-based technology division. Richard Prodigalidad, who leads SFIO’s technology efforts, describes this division as the “scaffolding supporting this period of hyper-growth”.

“Right now, we’re expanding in multiple important directions,” Prodigalidad said. “We’re entering new markets, while also striking partnerships to fund and accelerate those expansions. Behind all that is a global team, operating across time zones and various markets. The only way to ensure this is all scalable is through technology.”

Prodigalidad leads a stable of developers, designers, project managers, and communications specialists working across blockchain, artificial intelligence, wellness technologies, e-commerce, and learning management systems.

Currently in the technology division’s pipeline is one such learning management system, designed to consolidate and streamline the training resources for businesses like Epiphany Cafe. Catering to the brands’ franchisees and employees across different markets, this digital learning platform replaces traditional training methods, allowing for more affordable, scalable, and localized onboarding processes. In addition to being a knowledge hub for Epiphany Cafe’s franchise operations, these platforms will also see use across SFIO’s other units—offering on-demand access to the entrepreneurship master classes of The Global Academy and training courses for the real estate division’s agents.

According to Statista, the global online e-learning market is forecasted to grow exponentially to reach over $370 billion by 2026. This growth is led in large part by the use of learning management systems, which in 2019 generated roughly $18 billion in the US alone.

“Having a platform like this allows us to grow rapidly while ensuring the quality of our operations and our workforce, keeping us aligned around latest developments and shared values,” Prodigalidad said. “Eventually, we’ll be developing this proprietary learning management system into a subscription service for other organizations like SMEs that want to scale their knowledge sharing, continuous learning, and training processes. We’re planning to roll out this subscription service by the third quarter of this year.”

In the meantime, SFIO’s learning management system will be servicing new and existing Epiphany Cafe locations across New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, and the United States as early as Q2 2022.