Ayannah raises US$1M Series A funding from 500 Startups and Life.SREDA
The fintech startup will use funds to increase customer and agent acquisition, and ramp up product development and international expansion
Philippines-based digital commerce and payment startup Ayannah has announced today that it has raised US$1 million as part of its Series A round from Singapore-based fintech VC Life.SREDA, Silicon Valley VC 500 Startups, London-based fintech VC Blue Compass and other investors.
Ayannah will use this newly raised capital to increase customer and agent acquisition, and ramp up product development and international expansion.
Founded in 2009 by Harvard Business School alumnus and former JP Morgan Chase investment banker Mikko Perez, Ayannah offers a host of digital financial services that focus on serving the needs of the unbanked, especially those in emerging markets.
It has two main products — Sendah Direct and Sendah Remit.
Sendah Direct is a Software-as-a Service (SaaS) platform that partners with brick-and-mortar retailers to offer services like mobile top-ups, online game credits and domestic remittance.
Sendah Remit is a bank-grade Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that allows inter-operable international and domestic remittance transactions across different networks.
“Life.SREDA’s commitment to fintech is already paying off as we are finding synergies with their other portfolio companies already. 500 Startups provides access to a huge network of startups, which will be valuable as we make a big push overseas. Blue Compass’ team of seasoned bankers with extensive experience developing financial products for SMEs in emerging markets will definitely add value,” said Perez.
Also Read: Digital payments startup Ayannah diving deep into Big Data
Ayannah has served over 10 million customers through its physical agents and online presence. The company aims to hit US$150 million in remittances by the end of 2016.
It plans to launch a risk-based credit scoring system for the unbanked — the first in the Philippines — using recently declassified technologies originally developed by the US intelligence services to fight terrorism.
Using deep learning artificial intelligence, Ayannah will analyse data from various sources to profile the large but unbanked emerging class population in the Philippines.
Using this data, Ayannah will be able to provide affordable and accessible financial services to them.
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