Voyager is now Philippines’ second unicorn after $210m funding round

voyager is unicorn
Image by eamesBot | Bigstockphoto

Philippine fintech company Voyager Innovations has reached unicorn status after raising $210 million in a recent funding round, bringing the company’s total valuation to $1.4 billion.

The round’s investors include SIG Venture Capital, the Asian arm of Susquehanna International Group, LLP; Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co., Ltd.; and Singapore-based global investor EDBI.

Voyager, whose major shareholder is PLDT, plans to use the fresh investment to tap into the growing cryptocurrency market and launch micro-investment products.

Voyager is also the company behind payments platform Paymaya, which has been aggressively expanding its merchant base and user base in the Philippines. PayMaya recently reported more than 47 million customers on its consumer platforms as of March 31.

“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,” said Voyager and PayMaya Chief Executive Officer and founder Orlando B. Vea.

Analysts think that Voyager’s achievement is a vote of confidence in the Philippines’ burgeoning fintech sector, which is rapidly transforming the way Filipinos bank, shop, and even pay for their daily commute.

In June, Voyager raised $167 million, with the World Bank Group’s IFC as a new investor. These recent developments make Voyager only the second Philippine company to achieve a valuation of over $1 billion, after its competitor Mynt, parent company of GCash. Mynt is partly owned by Globe Telecom, Bow Wave, and Ant Financial, the financial technology arm of Alibaba. Mynt operates in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

“Both Voyager and Mynt have very aggressive expansion plans; both are looking to tap several aspects of financial markets. Cryptocurrency seems to be the talk of the town nowadays, so Voyager’s planned venture into this scene will likely be beneficial,” said Regina Capital Development Corp. equity analyst Anna Corenne M. Agravio in a message to BusinessWorld.

The Philippines is among the fastest-growing fintech markets in Southeast Asia, according to a news report from Reuters, with the use of digital services rising during the pandemic. According to a study by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co., its internet economy expanded 93% to $17 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $40 billion by 2025.

Be the first to comment

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.