Explained: How cracks formed at Revolution Precrafted, the Philippines’ first unicorn

In 2017, the Philippines got its first unicorn startup: Revolution Precrafted, a prefabricated homes developer set up by entrepreneur Robbie Antonio. The company boasted designs from creatives such as Zaha Hadid, David Salle, Tom Dixon, Marcel Wanders, and Kravitz Design, the design firm of American music icon Lenny Kravitz.

Around four years later, Antonio is facing scrutiny from Philippine authorities. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is probing into allegations that Revolution hooked several businessmen into schemes and running away with 150 million pesos (US$3.1 million) in suspicious deals.

Revolution founder Robbie Antonio / Photo credit: Revolution Precrafted

Who is Robbie Antonio?

He is the son of Century Properties chairman Jose Antonio – one of the Philippines’ richest people, according to Forbes, which pegged his net worth at US$180 million as of September 2020. While his father’s real-estate empire mainly operated in the Philippines, Robbie Antonio founded a separate company in the US to operate there.

For his 36th birthday, the young scion had a US$15 million house built in Manila, which he dubbed Stealth. It features a collection of works by renowned artists such as Damien Hirst and Francis Bacon as well as a special gallery filled with Antonio’s portraits by Julian Schnabel, David LaChapelle, and Marilyn Minter, among others – all commissioned by the eccentric entrepreneur himself.

In 2015, Antonio established Revolution to help bring classy prefab homes from international designers to the Filipino masses.

When did the company reach its peak?

In its series B round in 2017, Revolution banked an undisclosed amount of funding in a round co-led by Singapore’s K2 VC, valuing the startup at over US$1 billion. Back then, Revolution said it had booked a total of US$110 million in orders and had become profitable, selling prefab houses at an average of US$120,000.

The investment came as the company was gearing up for overseas expansion, eventually entering Europe in 2018 through a tie-up with a Barcelona-based firm. It also inked deals in other countries such as Brazil, Spain, Japan, and Puerto Rico.

Months after the expansion, Antonio said during DealStreetAsia’s Asia PE-VC Summit that Revolution was looking to secure an additional US$100 million in a series C round in 2019. He also hinted that the firm would reach a valuation of about US$10 billion by 2021 to 2022.

When did cracks in Revolution’s structure show?

In early 2020, various reports noted that there was little to no evidence that the five-year-old startup had delivered a single prefabricated home. Revolution was also said to be building traditional homes for its customers instead of the prefabricated houses that it was supposed to offer.

The company also reportedly seemed to have presented its investors with overconfident financial forecasts as it pursued unicorn status. Aside from K2 VC, Revolution has received support from companies such as 500 Startups and Eden Holdings.