Voyager Innovations Could Look to Raise as Much as $200M

Voyager Innovations, owner of the FinTech PayMaya, could be on the hunt for additional funding in the range of $150 million to $200 million, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday (Feb. 15) citing sources with insider information.

The Philippine FinTech firm is a wholly owned subsidiary of PCEV, which is a 99.9% owned subsidiary of Smart Communications, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT.

The funding would likely be used to finance the expansion of its operations, according to the report. Talks are ongoing and changes are possible, the sources told Bloomberg, including the size of the funding. Voyager could also decide to drop the funding plans.

See also: Voyager Nabs $167M, Prepares To Launch Digital Bank in the Philippines

Voyager Innovations raised $167 million in venture funding in June by PLDT, Chinese technology company Tencent, private equity firm KKR & Co. and IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund.

Those funds were used to help grow its digital payments arm PayMaya, which was granted a digital banking permit. PayMaya also offers a mobile wallet, payments processing and digital remittance.

In April 2020, Voyage Innovations raised an estimated $120 million from existing backers during a funding round. In 2018, the company raised a $215 million.

Read more: Philippines Grants Digital Banking License to PayMaya

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, approved PayMaya’s digital banking license in September. Named Maya Bank, it is the sixth digital lender in the country and caters to the unbanked, underbanked and underserved individuals as well as small businesses.

The central bank has said that just seven digital banking licenses will be distributed in the country.

You may also enjoy: Philippines Central Bank Exploring Regional Payment Network

The central bank said in November that it was exploring the development of a cross-border payment network across Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The bank already has an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to discuss cross-border payments between Singaporeans and Filipinos.