Maya, a financial technology firm in the Philippines, is considering raising about $150 million from investors to boost its growth, according to people familiar with the matter.
The digital payments and banking company is working with financial advisers in a fundraising deal that could bring its valuation closer to about $2 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. A round could help pave the way toward a potential initial public offering for the PLDT Inc.-backed company in the coming years, the people said.
Maya has drawn preliminary interest from prospective investors, including existing backers as well as other financial institutions and funds seeking to tap into Southeast Asia’s growing economy, the people said. Last year, it raised $210 million from investors in a funding round that valued the fintech firm at nearly $1.4 billion. The round was led by the Asian venture capital unit of US investment firm Susquehanna International Group, which was one of the earliest and largest backers of TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd.
Considerations are preliminary and details such as the size of the deal and valuation could still change, the people said. Representatives for KKR and Maya declined to comment.
Maya is an all-in-one money app, offering banking and payments services including e-wallet, savings, credit and cryptocurrency, among others through its PayMaya Philippines and Maya Bank arms, its website shows. Maya Bank won a digital banking license in 2021 and launched the following year. It had one million registered customers and P10 billion ($181 million) of deposits as of October, according to a press release.
Formerly known as Voyager Innovations Inc., Maya was founded as a digital arm of PLDT, the Southeast Asian nation’s biggest telecom company by market value, according to PLDT’s annual report. Subsequent investment diluted PLDT’s ownership to a non-controlling stake, the report shows.
Along with PLDT and SIG, investors in Maya include EDBI, First Pacific Co., KKR & Co., Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. and the World Bank’s International Finance Corp. — Bloomberg
