Naspers invests $5m in Philippines-based Coins
The venture capital division of South African media firm Naspers has invested $5 million in Coins, a US-founded blockchain and financial technology company operating in the Philippines.
The investment is aimed at consolidating Coins’ presence in the Southeast Asia payments services space. The company claims to have signed up more than one million customers in the region to date, with significant exposure to the Philippines and Thailand.
Founded in 2014, Coins offers services related to remittances, bill payments and mobile airtime to unbanked people via a branchless blockchain-based platform to enable cost reductions and improved service quality. It claims to be one of the first providers of digital financial services built on blockchain technology and says its mobile wallet has generated a strong leadership position.
“Coins has become a key component of our customers’ everyday lives, allowing them to do everything from sending payments to shopping online,” Ron Hose, CEO of Coins, said in a statement. “With Naspers Ventures, we’ve gained a great partner in our mission to democratize financial services by making them easily accessible and usable by anyone.”
Quona Capital led a $5 million round for the company in October last year with participation from Innovation Endeavors, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, Wavemaker Labs, Global Brain, BeeNext and Rebright Partners. Filipino backers in that round included Kickstart Ventures and Ideaspace Foundation, the investment arms of Globe Telecom and Smart Communications, respectively.
The Philippines is projected to experience a surge in financial services demand in the next five years as the country's young consumer market transitions into an older demographic that makes more big-ticket purchases. Previous activity in this space includes Philippine Long Distance Telephone acquiring a 10% stake in German incubator Rocket Internet to pursue development of mobile payment and remittance platforms.
Domestic digital payment players with VC backing include Kalibrr, which has received seed and follow-up funding from Kickstart, and Ayannah, which has been invested by several GPs including 500 Startups and IMJ Investment Partners. Last month, 500 Startups and IMJ also participated in a $2.5 million round for Manila-based digital banking company First Circle.
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