Voyager Innovations said it reached unicorn status after raising $210 million to fund expansion from payments into banking and cryptocurrency trading. Voyager said its valuation hit $1.4 billion following the latest funding round led by new investor SIG Venture Capital. Existing shareholders U.S. fund KKR, Chinese tech titan Tencent, World Bank affiliate IFC and PLDT, the Philippines’ largest telecom, also participated. The company, whose Paymaya app serves 47 million users, said it will use the fresh capital to launch Maya Bank, a new digital bank that targets consumers and small enterprises. The company said it will continue to expand Paymaya’s products and services, such as cryptocurrency, micro-investments, and insurance.
The Southeast Asian nation’s fintech sector surged during the last two years as the coronavirus pandemic forced millions to transact online, fueling the rise of online payments and digital banking services. Voyager rival Mynt — the company behind GCash — hit a $2 billion valuation last year backed by Ant Group, Philippines’ Globe Telecom and U.S. fund Warburg Pincus. Tonik, one of the country’s six digital banks licensed by the central bank, raised $131 million in February in a Series B round led by Japan’s Mizuho Bank. The Philippines has one of Southeast Asia’s largest populations of unbanked people. Regulators expect the asset-light business model of digital banks to spur better and flexible offerings for the millions of Filipinos who lack access to financial services.