PayMaya parent company Receives $210 million in Fresh Capital

The company behind PayMaya, Voyager Innovations, has received $210 million in fresh capital from investors, turning it into one of the most valuable fintech firms in the Philippines.

The fundraising increased Voyager’s valuation to about $1.4 billion, firmly establishing it as the country’s second “unicorn” alongside Globe Fintech Innovations Inc. (Mynt), the operator of PayMaya’s main rival Gcash.

Last Tuesday, parent company PLDT Inc. released a disclosure to the stock exchange stating that Voyager’s funds will be used to launch the startup’s nascent digital bank, “Maya Bank”. The neobank will offer services such as savings and credit across all PayMaya platforms for both consumers and businesses.

“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,” Orlando Vea, co-founder of Voyager, said.

Additionally, a portion of the proceeds will go to expanding PayMaya’s new offerings of cryptocurrency, micro-investments, and insurance.

The company’s largest investment came from its new shareholder, SIG Venture Capital, while other shareholders such as KKR, Tencent, and EDBI joined in on the fundraising.

Voyager also received funding from International Finance Corp. (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.

It is assumed that the new flow of capital will boost Voyager’s financial strength amid the increasing market competition. Furthermore, the capital comes as the rivalry between traditional and digital banks continues to heat up. Last year, the BSP gave digital banking licenses to six different companies, including Maya Bank.

Throughout the pandemic, the Philippines’ digital economy increased mainly due to the actions of Voyager and its rival Mynt. According to a study conducted by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co., the country’s digital economy increased by 94% from 2020 to 2021 and is projected to reach a valuation of $40 billion by 2025.

Source: Philstar, Cointelegraph