Advance, a Filipino fintech company focused on providing salary advances, has announced raising $16 million in a pre-Series A funding round co-led by Vietnam-based investor Do Ventures and debt provider Lendable.
The round, which was a mix of equity ($6 million) and credit facility ($10 million), was also backed by a number of investors, including Kaya Founders, Phoenix Holdings, Foxmont Capital, Wavemaker Partners, Accion Venture Lab, among others.
In a statement, Advance said the fresh funding will be used to introduce more innovative financial products and services not only in the Philippines but also in Vietnam.
Along with the fresh funding, Advance announced that it has expanded into Vietnam with the acquisition of BravoHR, a Vietnam-based platform that provides digital solutions for employee engagement, benefits, and rewards.
BravoHR’s key clients include some of the biggest global brands like McDonalds, L’Oreal, and AstraZeneca.
“The success of our fundraising exercise supports our goal of providing fair and accessible financial services, especially for underserved employees,” said Jaime de los Angeles, CEO and co-founder of Advance. “We’re very excited at the prospect of doing this in two markets, both of which are still addressing a major credit gap across borrowing segments”.
The pre-Seed funding round comes less than three years after the Filipino startup announced raising an undisclosed amount in its Seed funding round, which was anchored by Wavemaker Partners, the Southeast Asia-focused venture investor.
Salary-on-demand startups offer a service that allows employees to access a portion of their earned wages before their actual payday. This means that employees can get paid for the hours they’ve worked on demand rather than having to wait for the end of the pay period.
These startups typically partner with employers and integrate with their payroll systems, allowing employees to access their earnings instantly through a mobile app.
The amount that employees can access varies depending on the startup, but it is usually a percentage of the wages they have earned up to that point.
Advance said the transaction marks the first investment of Do Ventures in the Philippines.
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