Voyager Innovations, the leading technology company in the Philippines behind the end-to-end money platform PayMaya and neobank Maya Bank, raises US$210 million in new funds, propelling Voyager’s valuation to unicorn plus status, at nearly US$1.4 billion.
Leading the round is new investor SIG Venture Capital, the Asian venture capital arm of SIG. Other new investors include Singapore-based global investor EDBI and investment holding company First Pacific Company Ltd. (“First Pacific”).
Also participating in the round are Voyager’s existing shareholders PLDT Inc. (“PLDT”), the Philippines’ largest integrated telecommunications company; KKR, a global investment firm; Tencent, a leading technology company; International Finance Corporation (“IFC”); and IFC Emerging Asia Fund and IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, two funds managed by the IFC Asset Management Company (“IFC AMC”), a division of IFC.
The Company will use the new funds to launch Maya Bank services, such as savings and credit, which will be offered seamlessly across PayMaya’s platforms for consumers and enterprises, including micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises or MSMEs. It will also continue to expand PayMaya’s offering with new products like cryptocurrency, micro-investments, insurance, and more, as the all-in-one money app of the Philippines.
This integrated ecosystem approach uniquely positions it among e-wallets, banks, and fintech players in the Philippines. PayMaya is the only fintech serving all segments of consumers and enterprises with a widely used consumer e-wallet app, the leading enterprise payment processing business, and the most extensive on-ground agent network, Smart Padala.
Over the years, PayMaya has built the end-to-end rails for this unique ecosystem and now plans to leverage that infrastructure with proprietary applications, especially for launching Maya Bank services such as consumer and merchant credit and savings.
Orlando B. Vea, Voyager and PayMaya CEO-Founder, said: “Our strong record of execution and innovation is a testament to our world-class team’s hard work and talent. With this milestone, we are excited to leap forward and bring the best of PayMaya and Maya Bank to help unlock the digital economy for the underserved and unbanked Filipinos.”
Shailesh Baidwan, Voyager and PayMaya President, said: “The strong endorsement from our new shareholders and participation of our existing investors in this fundraising validates the Company’s ability to expand into neobanking and add new cutting-edge financial products and services. We are excited to bring more game-changing innovations to millions of consumers and MSMEs with our integrated ecosystem as we address the pent-up demand for financial services.”
Akshay Bajaj who led the investment for SIG said: “The PayMaya team is a world-class set of professionals who have built the most complete and unified fintech ecosystem in the market. Leveraging PayMaya’s distribution strength with enterprises and consumers, Maya Bank has the potential to be one of the most successful digital banks not just in the Philippines, but globally. We are thrilled to partner with Voyager and existing shareholders to drive the digital ecosystem to new heights.”