Fintech Voyager becomes second Philippine 'unicorn'

Philippine technology startup Voyager Innovations said it has raised US$210 million in its latest funding round, making the company the country's second "unicorn" with a valuation of more than US$1 billion.

Voyager, which serves 47 million people through its consumer platforms that include e-wallet and digital payments, said the fresh capital will fund its digital banking venture and other services like cryptocurrency and micro-investments.

SIG Venture Capital, the Asian venture capital arm of SIG, Singapore-based global investor EDBI, and investment holding company First Pacific Company, participated in the funding round as new investors, Voyager said.

Voyager's existing shareholders like PLDT, private equity firm KKR, China's Tencent Holdings and International Finance Corp (IFC) also joined the capital injection.

The latest funding increased the valuation of Voyager to US$1.4 billion, it said.

In June, Voyager raised US$167 million for its expansion program, bringing in a unit of the World Bank Group's IFC as a new investor.

Voyager's rival, Mynt, is the only other Philippine unicorn, or startups that have reached at least US$1 billion in valuation.

Mynt is partly owned by Globe Telecom, Bow Wave and Ant Financial, the financial technology arm of Alibaba.

The Philippines is among the fastest-growing fintech markets in Southeast Asia, with adoption of digital services surging during the pandemic.

Its internet economy grew 93 percent to US$17 billion in 2021, and is expected to expand to US$40 billion by 2025, according to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co.