Voyager Innovations, the Philippines-based operator of a mobile financial services platform, agreed yesterday to raise $120m in funding from investors including internet group Tencent and telecommunications firm PLDT.
The corporates were joined by investment firm KKR’s Asian Fund III, the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC’s Emerging Asia Fund.
Founded in 2013, Voyager has built a range of digital financial services products for customers in emerging economies, encompassing areas such as digital payment, marketing technology, mobile banking, financial remittance and a digital wallet called PayMaya.
Voyageer was initially formed as a subsidiary of PLDT and the $120m was described as part of a broader fundraising for the company, which is in discussions with other strategic investors.
The investors 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.”
IFC and its Emerging Asia Fund invested $40m in Voyager to close its last funding round at $215m in late 2018, following $175m from Tencent and KKR. PLDT remained its largest shareholder after the round’s completion.
