In a statement, UNOAsia said the funding round was a mix of equity and debt, which augurs well for the company as it seeks to solidify UNO Digital Bank's presence in the Philippines.
UNOAsia Pte Ltd, the Singapore-based financial technology company that owns Philippine digital lender UNO Digital Bank, has announced raising $32.1 million in funding to further boost the online bank’s presence in the country.
The funding round was backed by a host of investors, including Gateway Partners, Creador Private Equity, and Nextinfinity Management. Creador is an existing investor, having participated in UNOAsia’s pre-Series A funding round in August 2022.
In a statement, UNOAsia said the funding round was a mix of equity and debt, which augurs well for the company as it seeks to solidify UNO Digital Bank’s presence in the Philippines.
UNOAsia earlier said it wants to create a regional business that will expand beyond the Philippines over the next few years. Currently, UNO Digital Bank has one million customers and $100 million in deposits.
The company, which is one of the six fintech firms that received a digital bank license in the Philippines under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ Digital Banking License Framework, has so far raised about $75 million in funding.
It raised $11 million in 2022 in its pre-Series A funding and received an additional $3 million during the same year from Bountiful Mannah Pte, a company owned by Michael Tan, President of Philippine conglomerate LT Group.
Kalidas Ghose, Chairman of UNO Digital Bank concurs, “Our relationship with customers is expressed through the prism of five essential banking products: Transaction, Savings, Loans, Investment, and Insurance.”
The bank recently launched a few variations of personal loan products that help bridge the formal credit gap across salaried, professionals, and MSME segments, with a focus on expanding the reach.
“The investment will help in efforts to transform the digital financial space in the Philippines and drive financial inclusion,” according to Anand Kumar, co-founder at Gateway Partners.
UNO Digital Bank is one of six digital bank license holders in the Philippines. The others that have secured digital banking licenses are Tonik Digital Bank Inc (Philippines), whose holding company is Singapore-based Tonik Financial Pte Ltd; Aboitiz-led Union Digital Bank; and GoTyme, which is owned by the Gokongwei Group and Singapore fintech firm Tyme.
Maya Bank, the fintech arm of tech unicorn Maya Innovations, formerly known as Voyager Innovations, received the sixth license.
The central bank had capped the number of digital banking licenses to six after the remaining applicants failed to meet the requirements, which includes a minimum capital of ₱1 billion.
