Out of hundreds of applications from 17 countries, homegrown fintech platform NextPay was hailed as the runner-up in the 2022 Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Awards for the Business Innovation Category.
Top Ten Innovators is a global competition designed to highlight and reward impactful Shell LiveWIRE entrepreneurs who are making positive contributions toward social impact, environmental sustainability and business innovation. This year, a total of 195 applications were turned in from 17 countries around the world.
In particular, the Business Innovation category recognizes enterprises that demonstrate innovative solutions in their products or services or business model, including leveraging e-commerce and digital marketing to reach new markets.
NextPay, a Filipino digital platform that puts the power of big banks to growing businesses, provides simpler all-in-one digital financial solutions to businesses, often seen as too small for traditional enterprise banking services. It offers micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) simplified and streamlined tools to help them scale up at a fraction of the cost by automating processes to collect, send, and manage money.
“We are very humbled to be named as one of the Top Ten Innovators in the world when it comes to Business Innovation. While this victory brings prestige to the company, NextPay is also more than happy to bring honor to the Philippines with this award. Undoubtedly, now with Shell’s stamp of approval, we can say that the country is on its way to a booming economy which prioritizes business innovation and social impact in the post-pandemic era,” said NextPay CEO and Co-Founder Don Pansacola.
For 40 years, Shell LiveWIRE has been strengthening local economies around the world by promoting meaningful employment and entrepreneurship which demonstrates Shell’s commitment to Powering Lives.
"Congratulations to NextPay for being one of the winners of the 2022 Global Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators. Your accomplishment is another step on your journey as you connect thousands of Filipinos through your digital platform. The commitment you've shown in finding innovative solutions to help micro, small, and medium businesses experience easier financial operations, proved to be the key to your achievement. May you continue to be part of rebuilding our nation and spark change to our fellow Filipinos. Together, we can keep moving the Philippines forward,” Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. Country Social Performance & Social Investment Manager Conrad Parizal said.
As a former participant in the Shell LiveWIRE Program, NextPay has enjoyed the benefits of mentorship sessions as well as equity-free funding from no less than Shell itself, helping NextPay grow into the success that it is today. The platform has also widened its reach thanks to Shell’s networks and media publicity.
“NextPay and Shell share a common vision – both of us are committed to empowering growing businesses, as they are the backbone of the economy. More than just another achievement to list under our startup’s name, this win is a testament to NextPay commitment to making a meaningful impact in the lives of Filipinos,” said NextPay Co-Founder and COO Artie Lopez said.
Since it was introduced during the height of the pandemic in 2020, NextPay has processed more than P2.7 billion worth of payments for more than 3,500 growing companies and raised pre-seed funding from YCombinator, an established business accelerator on the global startup stage.
“Being hailed as one of the world’s Top Ten Innovators for Business Innovation in the world encourages us to develop more fintech solutions that are tailored to the ever-evolving needs of growing businesses,” NextPay Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer Aldrich Tan said.
NextPay is backed by Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator, Singapore-based venture capitalist Golden Gate Ventures, and Gentree Fund, a private investment vehicle of the Sy Family of the SM Group conglomerate, and other investors.