Voyager Innovations Secures US$120M of Funding from PLDT, KKR, Tencent, IFC and IFC Emerging Asia Fund
Voyager Innovations will receive US$120 Million funding from its stakeholders for its expansion efforts in 2020. PLDT, the Philippines’ leading telecommunications and digital services provider, KKR, a global investment firm, Tencent, a leading provider of internet value-added services in China, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the IFC Emerging Asia Fund, a fund managed by IFC Asset Management Company, today announced the signing of agreements. Voyager initially received funding from Tencent, KKR, IFC and IFC Emerging Asia Fund worth US$215 Million in 2018 to provide greater access to digital financial services across the Philippines through its financial technology arm, PayMaya.
Voyager’s PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines with platforms and services that cuts across consumers, merchants, and government. Aside from providing the payments acceptance for the largest e-Commerce, food, retail and gas merchants in the Philippines, PayMaya is enabling national and social services agencies as well as local government units with digital payments and disbursement services.
Through its PayMaya app and wallet, it is providing millions of Filipinos with the fastest way to own a financial account with over 40,000 Add Money touchpoints nationwide, more than double the total number of traditional bank branches in the Philippines combined. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya agent network serves as last mile digital financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved with access to services.Â
This US$120 Million investment is part of a broader fundraiser for Voyager and is intended to support PayMaya’s rapid growth as it pursues its mission to accelerate digital and financial inclusion in the Philippines and enable the wider Filipino population to participate in the digital economy. The Company is also in talks with other strategic and financial investors.
PLDT, KKR, IFC, IFC Emerging Asia Fund and Tencent said in a joint statement: “This fresh round of investment is a testament to Voyager’s success in providing Filipinos with access to convenient, relevant and inclusive digital financial services through PayMaya. This is also a recognition of the significant role that the Philippine financial technology industry can play in providing meaningful digital solutions to many of the crucial and very-human challenges that the Philippine community faces today.”
Orlando B. Vea, CEO and Founder of Voyager Innovations, said: “In line with the country’s goals, we have made significant strides in spurring cashless adoption in a largely unbanked population. This funding boosts PayMaya’s ability to reach more Filipinos, especially as access to digital financial services becomes even more important.”
