**media**
Indonesian payments infrastructure startup Xendit closes 2021, its first year of operations in the Philippines, as a unicorn valued at $1 billion.
Xendit has grown 25 percent month-on-month, with a 200 percent increase in total payments volume year-on-year.
A month after launch, Xendit became the first Philippine payment gateway to offer all three of the top e-wallets: GCash, GrabPay, and PayMaya.
In less than 12 months, Xendit processed more than two million debit transactions worth $10 billion from more than 350,000 linked bank accounts.
Its Philippine team has grown tenfold and it plans to hire more specialized staff, such as product specialists and engineers.
Xendit became a Southeast Asian unicorn after securing $150 million in Series C funding. Now, the payments infrastructure startup is one of 35 unicorns in the region.
“We are on track with our goal of creating a seamless national digital infrastructure," says Yang Yang Zhang, managing director, Xendit Philippines.
Furthermore, "Many have embraced the benefits of cashless payments and we expect continued demand even after the pandemic."
"When this is combined with regulators being open to innovation and the Philippine economy on the cusp of hypergrowth, digital transformation will happen sooner rather than later,” he explained.
Next year, the startup will introduce new business solutions to boost e-commerce growth.
“We are happy with the warm welcome that we received from our customers in our first year of operations in the Philippines, but what truly excites us is our role in shaping the country’s digital infrastructure," according to Christian Reyes, chief operating officer, Xendit Philippines.
"We aim to continue innovating and expanding our services so we can help more businesses and more Filipinos,” he concluded.