Philippine tech company Voyager Innovations has announced the close of a $175-million minority equity funding from PE major KKR and Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. With this, the PLDT subsidiary has now raised a total of $215 million in fresh funding. This week, it had secured $40 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC) and IFC Emerging Asia Fund. “Voyager can now step up its efforts to make its innovative financial and internet platforms more accessible to more Filipinos in more parts of the country,” said PLDT and Smart Communications chairman and CEO Manuel V. Pangilinan. The investment by KKR and Tencent, which will give both investors a substantial minority stake in Voyager Innovations, was first announced in October. It marks the largest investment to date in a Philippine technology company. In a statement, PLDT said Voyager will leverage the new capital and significant expertise of KKR, Tencent, IFC, and IFC Emerging Asia Fund as it carries out its mission to “accelerate digital and financial inclusion in the country”. Founded in 2013, Voyager Innovations offers mobile money and payments (under the PayMaya brand), mobile-based remittances (Smart Padala), digital lending (Lendr) and solutions for businesses to receive online and card payments anytime, anywhere (PayMaya Business). According to a report released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the country’s central bank, there are more people with mobile phones than bank accounts in the Philippines. The BSP said it is setting its sights on technology as a catalyst and strategic enabler for financial inclusion in the Philippines. Central bank governor Nestor Espenilla Jr has earlier said that the future of the country’s financial system lies in going digital and using it to achieve financial inclusion.

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