XENDIT PHILIPPINES is looking to introduce more services, such as business-to-business loans and data products, after it raised $150 million from a new funding round.

The Indonesia-headquartered fintech startup with a local presence raised $150 million through a Series C funding round, which boosted its valuation to $1 billion.

The firm now joins the likes of Grab Holdings, Inc., Lazada Group, and J&T Express that are among Southeast Asia’s unicorns, or startups that have reached a valuation of $1 billion and above.

“This [new funding round] will empower us with the capital to realize all the dreams that we have laid out for the Philippines and across the region,” Xendit Philippines Managing Director Yang Yang Zhang said at a virtual briefing on Thursday.

Xendit provides payments infrastructure for both merchants and consumers. It has partnerships with banks, e-wallets, and credit providers.

Ms. Zhang said their unicorn status will also help the Philippine startup ecosystem.

“To me, it’s a confirmation that on the global stage, the Philippines can be that catalyst to be able to be worth $1 billion in the future,” she said.

Ms. Zhang said they have seen continued growth in their core markets as they have processed over $10 billion in total payments year to date in Indonesia and the Philippines.

“This represents 200% growth year over year, an impressive statistic given the effect of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic on industries… That gives us the confidence that we’ll be able to maintain this explosive growth in the years to come,” she said.

Moving forward, the firm is also working to expand its services beyond payment infrastructures, Ms. Zhang said. Among the services they want to launch are business-to-business loans and data products for financial institutions for electronic Know Your Customer processes.

Xendit Philippines Chief Operating Officer Christian Reyes said they are also looking to enhance user experience, especially for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises.

“We are really investing a lot of our time and resources because we believe the SMEs are the backbone of our economy,” Mr. Reyes said. — L.W.T. Noble

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