Fintech startup NextPay gets $1.6M funding from Sy family investment fund, Singapore VC

Homegrown financial technology  startup NextPay has raised around P80 million or $1.6 million in seed funding from international and local investors, including the Sy family’s private investment vehicle and a Singaporean venture.

In a statement, NextPay said Singapore-based venture capitalist Golden Gate Ventures and Gentree Fund led the oversubscribed seed financing round.

Golden Gate Ventures has interests in digital leaders Omise, Codapay, BukuWarung, Stripe, and Xendit.

Gentree Fund, meanwhile, is a private investment vehicle of the Sy family, who owns the conglomerate SM Group.

NextPay said proceeds of the seed funding will be used to expand its services, customer base, and introduce new digital banking solutions to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

“We believe that business banking will continue to digitally evolve, as the Philippines accelerates its digital transformation initiatives. This investment supports our goal of putting the power of big banks in the hands of small businesses,” said NextPay CEO and co-founder Don Pansacola.

Among other foreign investors that participated in the seed funding round are Tribe Capital, Broadhaven Ventures, 1982 Ventures, Saison Capital, and Razorpay, Rohit Mulani of GoTrade, and Abhinay Peddisetty and Chinmay Chauhan of BukuWarung.

Goodwater Capital, which has invested in Facebook, Spotify, and Twitter, also supported the funding exercise, NextPay said.

Locally, NextPay’s seed funding was backed by Kickstart Ventures of the Ayala Group, Foxmont Capital, and First Asia Ventures, as well as angel investor Lisa Gokongwei of JG Summit, among others.

The fundraising marks a milestone for NextPay after graduating from Silicon Valley-based “startup accelerator” Y-Combinator program in April, when it received $125,000 in pre-seed investment. 

Launched amid the pandemic in 2020, NextPay is a platform that provides underserved customers democratized access to easy and affordable financial services such as digital invoicing, cash management, and batch payments to any bank or e-wallet in the Philippines.

The startup said it has processed over $9.1 million or over P457.5 million in digital transactions for more than 100 businesses with over 3,500 employees. — BM, GMA News