Seeking to address the need for accessible funding among Filipino creatives, fintech company Kayamo recently unveiled its latest initiative at a launch event held on February 28th at the Makati Shangri-La. The launch attracted a diverse audience including founders, investors, media representatives, and government officials from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Development Company, demonstrating the widespread interest in supporting this creative community.
Founded in 2019 by Paolo Picazo and former Department of Finance Undersecretary Karen Singson, Kayamo provides micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and entrepreneurs with financial services including secured and unsecured lending, consumer installment loans, and insurtech. To ensure responsible lending practices, the company acquires financial data, with customer consent, from secure third-party ecommerce and social media platforms. They collaborate with these platforms to safeguard data privacy and security before using it to make informed credit decisions.
“MSMEs are the backbone of our country yet their potential is shackled by traditional lending barriers. Our goal is to break these chains. Over the past few years, we’ve supported thousands of entrepreneurs, seeing firsthand what amazing things they can accomplish, given the right resources,” Picazo said. “So, working alongside these visionary entrepreneurs, building the future, we learned very quickly that to properly serve them, we would need to be just as innovative as the ventures we support.”
To date, Kayamo has approved over 65,000 loan applications. It has also become an official financing partner of both e-commerce giants Lazada Philippines and Shopee Philippines, helping provide funding for each platform’s growing base of online sellers.
Despite making up 99.5% of the country’s businesses and hiring 63% of the local workforce, 67% of MSMEs continue to have financing and credit constraints, with most relying on internal sources for their capital needs. Many who apply for loans with traditional banks cite difficulties coming up with proper documents, collateral, and coping with high-interest rates.
Similar to the company’s work with MSMEs, Kayamo’s decision to support Filipino creatives stems from their recognition that the creative community needs a new form of assistance.
local creative industry.
“Usually considered freelancers or gig economy workers, creatives do not have the means to apply for a salary loan or build credit scores with traditional banking institutions,” Singson said. “These are the gaps to bridge to serve our creatives. They don’t just need funds, they need an ecosystem that understands their needs.”
The size of the nation’s creative industries, which span arts, music, dance, culinary, crafts, photography, etc., was also a deciding factor in Kayamo’s decision to support creative workers and freelancers. Creative industries in the Philippines employ about 6.98 million people and contribute 7.3% to the country’s gross domestic product. With additional funding, Kayamo aims to turn creative workers into successful entrepreneurs.
To support creatives, the Kayamo team actively explores alternative data sources for assessing creditworthiness. This includes using location mapping to gauge a potential borrower’s proximity to public services, like police stations or barangay halls, as a trust indicator. Other alternative data sources encompass social media presence, media visibility, memberships, and affiliations.
Since celebrating Philippine Creative Industries Month last September, the Kayamo team has already connected with over 300 entrepreneurs in the creative industry. The company helped these entrepreneurs by providing them with the financing needed to run their studios, complete workshops, and organize fashion shows. In one instance, Kayamo worked with a Mindanao-based creative cooperative to act as a co-guarantor for a designer’s loan application.
According to DTI Undersecretary Kim Bernardo-Lokin, Kayamo’s latest initiative aligns with the DTI’s future plans for Filipino creatives. “Filipinos are naturally creative, which is why the Philippines is being positioned as a hub for the creative industry in Asia,” she said. “We will support Kayamo all the way.”
In addition to its new initiative for entrepreneurs in the creative industry, Kayamo aims to one day extend its services to Overseas Filipino Workers, recognizing their unique financial needs and the challenges they face in accessing credit. Furthermore, Kayamo is launching a referral program to incentivize existing clients to introduce new members to its platform, fostering growth and expanding its reach within the community.
“We aren’t alone in our support for our nation’s creative entrepreneurs; in fact, we are joining a strong community of cross-sectoral; enablers who believe in the power of these creatives to build amazing things,” said Singson. “Today, creative entrepreneurs can look to not only government initiatives, like the Creative Industries Charter of 2019, to protect and promote their work, but also to Kayamo for the capital they need to bring that work to the world.”