PLDT Inc. unit Voyager Innovations yesterday raised $167 million in fresh capital to fund the expansion of its digital financial unit PayMaya Philippines and its soon- to- be established digital bank.
Voyager said the existing shareholders of PLDT; KKR, a global investment firm; and Tencent, a leading technology company in China have participated in the fund raising.
Voyager welcomed IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, a fund managed by the IFC Asset Management Co. (IFC AMC), as a new investor.
IFC AMC is a division of the International Finance Corp., a member of the World Bank Group, and an existing investor in Voyager.
The investment includes $121 million in fresh funding and $46 million from previously committed funds.
Voyager said it will use the new funds to expand its PayMaya services and to continue enabling more unbanked and underserved individuals and micro small and medium enterpriseswith new and inclusive products, such as credit, insurance, savings, and investments, through a soon-to-be-established digital bank.
Once granted a digital bank license by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas , the new entity will provide mobile-first, low-cost, round-the-clock, frictionless, branchless, ubiquitous, paperless, secure, and smart neo-banking services on the back of PayMaya’s proven technology platforms.
“This investment supports the unique value we bring and gives us a natural head start with the target market for the digital banking service,” said Orlando Vea, Voyager and PayMaya chief executive officer and founder.
Voyager’s total fund raising stands at $502 million to date, including $120 million and $215 million investments in 2018.
PLDT earlier said Paymaya will achieve profitability in the next two to three years as it targets to hit P1 trillion of gross transaction value on both merchant and consumer sides.
PayMaya is on track to hit over P1 trillion worth of transaction this year. It has 35 million registered users.
