Voyager Innovations, a Philippine fintech firm, announced today that it has achieved the unicorn title after acquiring $210 million to expand from transactions to banking and cryptocurrency markets.
Following the newest investment round headed by shareholder SIG Venture Capital, Voyager's worth has risen to $1.4 billion.
Existing Voyager investors such as KKR & Co. Inc, PLDT, China's Tencent Holdings Ltd, and the International Finance Corp. also contributed to the financial investment.
The company, which has 47 million users on its Paymaya app, said it will utilize the extra funds to build Maya Bank, a modern digital bank aimed at consumers and small businesses.
Paymaya's offerings, including cryptocurrencies, micro-investments, and insurance, will continue to be expanded, according to the firm.
"The company's ability to develop into neo-banking and add innovative cutting-edge financial products and services is validated by the strong approval from our new investors and involvement of our current investors in this fundraising," Shailesh Baidwan, president of Voyager and Paymaya, said.
As a result of the coronavirus outbreak forcing millions of people to trade online, the Southeast Asian nation's financial industry grew in the previous two years, spurring the rise of online transactions and digital banking services.
The Philippines is one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing fintech economies, with the usage of digital services skyrocketing during the pandemic.
According to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co., its digital economy surged 94% to $17 billion in 2021 and is predicted to grow to $40 billion by 2025.
Last year, Mynt, the business behind GCash, was valued at $2 billion by Ant Group, Globe Telecom in the Philippines, and Warburg Pincus in the United States.
Tonik, one of the country's six regulated digital banks, raised $131 million in a Series B financing headed by Japan's Mizuho Bank in February.
The Philippines has one of the highest unbanked populations in Southeast Asia. The asset-light business model of online banking is expected to spur better and more flexible offers for the millions of Filipinos who do not have a connection to financial services, according to regulators.
Analysts believe that the Philippines' $140 billion retail deposit sector will be very competitive. They claim that digital banks have the ability to outperform traditional lenders in the long run.
After obtaining $300 million from worldwide investors such as Warburg Pincus and Insight Partners, Mynt, a Philippine fintech startup backed by China's Ant Group and Globe Telecom of the Philippines, has earned the country's first unicorn.
