engageSPARK and Nexmo Provide Emergency Communications for Typhoon Hagupit Survivors in The Philippines

Singapore – December 15, 2014 – Nexmo, the leading cloud communications company, and engageSPARK, a not-for-profit social business that empowers non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reach populations in need, today announced that last week’s SMS campaign provided communities in the path of Typhoon Hagupit with critical information in advance.

Following last year’s Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,000 dead or missing in the Philippines alone, authorities launched a massive evacuation operation ahead of Typhoon Hagupit, evacuating towns and villages in coastal and flood-prone areas.

engageSPARK sent approximately 175,000 SMS messages on behalf of the global humanitarian agency Mercy Corps using Nexmo’s cloud communications API to inform citizens in the path of Typhoon Hagupit what to prepare, where to evacuate, and provided emergency phone numbers. The typhoon made its first landfall last Saturday in the eastern Philippines, forcing more than 1.7 million people to flee to safety.

“Reaching a large number of people during critical moments like natural disasters with time-sensitive information can be a challenge,” said Ravi Agarwal, CEO, engageSPARK. “Because our industry-leading messaging platform enables non-technical customers to easily and quickly create and implement emergency awareness campaigns via SMS and Voice, there’s real impact—lives can be saved.”

As a social business, all profits generated by engageSPARK are used to subsidize services to NGOs and governments, to further improve engageSPARK, and to build other tools that will improve the lives of poverty-stricken populations worldwide. Nexmo has donated the 175,000 SMS messages to help engageSPARK offset the cost of providing this emergency awareness campaign in the Philippines.

“Being a global company also means being a global neighbor, and like all good neighbors, we are compelled to help during natural disasters,” said Tony Jamous, CEO of Nexmo. “Cloud communication technology isn’t just driving new industries, it’s providing essential information at the speed of life during times of need. We are proud to help make a difference.”