INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Manila-based financial tech startup PayMongo has raised $2.7 million in seed funding to give merchants in the Philippines and other
Southeast Asian markets simple ways to set up online payments
Investors included Founders Fund, Peter Thiel and Stripe, with participation from Y Combinator (PayMongo is the first Philippine fintech
company it has funded), Global Founders Capital, Soma Capital, Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen and other angel investors.PayMongo was
launched in June by a founding team that includes CEO Francis Plaza, COO Edwin Lacierda, CTO Jamie Hing and chief growth officer Luis Sia
Since then, more than 1,000 businesses have started using its platform and the startup says its total transaction value processed is growing
at an average of 117% week over week
Asia.Prior to launching PayMongo, its team spent several years working on other projects
During that time, they realized payments were the hardest feature to integrate into products and services
to launch something online for a payment gateway, you have to deal with banks and many different financial institutions
It takes months, we tried it ourselves, from negotiating rates to submitting paperwork
they need to figure out payment gateways that are often difficult to start using for people with little tech experience.PayMongo has already
partnered with several financial institutions, and its technology, including a payments API that Plaza says can be set up in minutes, is
designed to be user friendly
Because many online merchants in the Philippines sell through social media platforms and messaging apps, like Facebook, Instagram, Viber and
WhatsApp, PayMongo also provides customizable payment links that they can send to customers.The credit card penetration rate in the
Philippines is only about 6%, Plaza says, so PayMongo also supports e-wallets like GCash and PayMaya and services that allow people to pay
for online purchases in cash at convenience stores
competitors like Paynamics, Dragonpay and PesoPay, which typically focus on serving larger businesses (though Plaza says PayMongo has also
We believe PayMongo will provide the infrastructure that is needed for more Filipinos to become founders who are in charge of their own
