Voyager raised $210Mn in funding round, reaches ‘unicorn plus’ status
PLDT-Smart Communications digital unit Voyager Innovations raised an additional $210 million in its latest funding round resulting in the company earning its “unicorn plus status” at around $1.4 billion.
PLDT said that Voyager would use the fresh funds to launch its Maya Bank services and offer new products such as cryptocurrency, micro-investments and insurance to the public.
This latest investment round was led by SIG Venture Capital, the Asian arm of Susquehanna International Group, LLP; Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co.; and Singapore-based global investor EDBI.
Existing shareholders PLDT, KKR, China’s Tencent, International Finance Corp. (IFC) and two funds managed by the IFC Asset Management Co. also participated in the round.
Voyager and PayMaya Founder and CEO Orlando Vea said that this milestone boosted their excitement “to leap forward and bring the best of PayMaya and Maya Bank to help unlock the digital economy for the underserved and unbanked Filipinos.”
Meanwhile, Voyager and PayMaya president Shailesh Baidwan stated that they are planning to release “more game-changing innovations” as it addresses pent-up demand for financial services in the country.
Voyager recently secured a digital banking license for Maya Bank in September last year. Pilot testing started just last month.
