Tencent-backed Voyager secures $120m investment commitment for e-wallet service

A group of investors, including China’s Tencent and KKR, announced up to US$120 million in investment commitment for Voyager Innovation, a Philippine tech company backed by local telco major PLDT.

Other companies joining the investment include the parent firm as well as asset management company IFC and its Emerging Asia Fund.

The latest capital injection follows the group’s initial investment into Voyager in 2018, which amounted to US$215 million. It’s also part of a broader raise for the company, intended to support the growth of its online payments offering, PayMaya, according to a statement.

PayMaya One point-of-sale device deployed in Manila’s roving stores / Photo credit: Voyager

Launched in 2015, PayMaya is an e-wallet that enables users to receive money, send remittances, pay bills, and make online payments. It also provides government units with digital payments and disbursement services.

“In line with the country’s goals, we have made significant strides in spurring cashless adoption in a largely unbanked population,” said Orlando Vea, the founder and CEO of Voyager. “This funding boosts PayMaya’s ability to reach more Filipinos, especially as access to digital financial services becomes even more important.”

See: E-wallets are starting to take off in the Philippines. Here are the key players

In the Philippines, PayMaya competes with GCash, the e-wallet service offered by PLDT rival Globe Telecom. PayMaya and GCash are part of a proxy war between Tencent and Alibaba, with the latter backing GCash through its parent, Mynt, in 2017.

Other players in the space include Coins.ph, which was acquired by Indonesian unicorn Gojek, and GrabPay by Singapore ride-hailing giant Grab.