UNO Digital Bank's parent company raises $11 million in pre-series A funding round
Singapore-headquartered fintech company UNOAsia Pte. Ltd. (UNOAsia), the parent company of UNO Digital Bank (UNObank) in the Philippines, has raised $11 million in fresh funding through a pre-Series A round led by Creador Private Equity.
The latest deal pushed UNOAsia’s total funding to US$44.5 million to date.
“The pre-Series A round led by Creador reflects continued investor confidence in our digital bank. The additional capital will help us to further invest to support our growth, as well as see us through the commercial launch of Uno Digital Bank, which is now a live operating bank under closed-loop ‘beta,’” UNObank founder and CEO Manish Bhai said in a statement.
Creador, headquartered in Malaysia, has already invested a total of $21 million in the fintech company and plans to increase this further, making it UNOAsia’s largest investor.
“Our investment will allow us to promote financial inclusion in a country where only 10% are borrowing from the organized sector,” said Omar Mahmoud, Creador’s managing director.
Aside from Creador, UNOAsia’s investors include founders Manish Bhai and Kalidas Ghose, Akash Bhanshali (Payash Securities), Helios Capital founder Samir Arora, and other senior investors from the banking and financial sectors.
UNOAsia aims to become a regional player as it plans to set up digital banking entities across key markets in South and Southeast Asia over the next five years, with an immediate priority in the Philippines where UNObank has been granted a digital banking license by the Bangko Central ng Pilipinas (BSP) as part of the government’s efforts to boost the digitalization of the financial industry.
The other five digital banks approved by the BSP are Overseas Filipino Bank of Land Bank of the Philippines, neobank Tonik Bank of Singapore, UnionDigital of the Union Bank of the Philippines, GOtyme of Robinsons Bank Corp., and Maya Bank of PayMaya.
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