I’m not talking about the spacecraft interplanetary probe that was launched some 45 years ago by National Aeronautics and Space Administration, a US government agency responsible for science and technology related air and space that has immensely contributed to the dynamic changes in satellite telecommunication such as GPS that we’re enjoying right now.
It’s Voyager Innovations, Inc. of Philippines, which provides digital consumer engagement and financial services, marketing and e-commerce platforms. It’s the issuer of the online payment app PayMaya that allows the users to, among others, shop online, send money, and pay bills.
I’ve been a user of PayMaya for more than a decade already. This digital payment app comes in handy, particularly when I was wearing a different hat in the editorial desk. Up until now, I used it for the visa payment as well as my online subscription to NYT, LA Times, Bloomberg, and The Economist.
That said, it’s inspiring to learn that PayMaya’s mother firm, Voyager, now has raised new funding amounting to $210 million from a list of new and existing investors that include SIG Venture Capital, the Asian venture capital arm of SIG that finances high-technology companies and consults on profitable acquisitions; Singapore-based global investor EDBI, and investment holding company First Pacific Company Ltd.
Voyager's existing shareholders PLDT, KKR, Tencent, International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and IFC Emerging Asia Fund and IFC Financial Institutions Growth Fund, two funds managed by the IFC Asset Management Company (IFC AMC), a division of IFC, also took part in the fund raising.
With the additional funding, Voyager is now unicorn plus status. This position is coveted by any tech company. Being branded as a Unicorn, which was popularized by venture capitalist and founder of Palo Alto-based Cowboy Ventures Aileen Lee, is prestigious and highly valued. It signifies that Voyager’s value now is over $1 billion without being listed in the stock market.
Alternatively, this means that Voyager is on its way up in the ladder of its service segment as unicorn symbolizes success.
The new money, as reported, will bankroll the launch of its digital banking arm, Maya Bank’s soon-to-be rolled-out products and services which will be seamlessly integrated and offered across PayMaya's consumer, enterprise, and agent network businesses.
The launch of its digital bank, Maya Bank, not to be confused with MayBank of Malaysia, is just a teaser. From what I’ve heard in the business community, rebranding of the online payment app is forthcoming.
This brings me to two points: Will the pay in PayMaya be dropped? And, will the digital bank logo includes tweety bird Maya, a Filipino term for sparrow that symbolizes power, creativity, productivity, simplicity, caring, persistent?
Another buzz going around the business circle is that a banking icon has declined the offer of PLDT’s MVP to steer Maya Bank. Well, that’s how it is, win some, lose some.
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