Philippines online pawn store secures VC funding

Participants in the round included 500 Startups, IMJ Investment Partners and Kaikaku Fund, a Philippines-focused vehicle affiliated with Softbank. The company will use the new capital to grow its team and to expand its outreach efforts in the Philippines.

PawnHero seeks to provide a source of quick capital to consumers in Southeast Asia, where options for credit are limited. Customers submit a picture of the item they wish to pawn and receive an estimate online. They can then drop off the item at affiliated stores or have it picked up by PawnHero's logistics partners.

The company believes it can offer strong competition to traditional pawn shops through convenience and by removing the social stigma of being seen pawning one's items. It also accepts a wider range of items than most physical pawn shops, and offers competitive monthly interest rates. Defaulted items are sold through the company's online retail store.

"Reinventing this traditional industry for an online era, PawnHero offers greater transparency, fairness and convenience, while addressing the borrowing needs of a majority connected yet unbanked or underbanked population," said Kaikaku Vice-President Teddy Himler in a statement.

Kaikaku launched in January 2014 with backing from Softbank and IP Ventures Group. The fund provides growth capital and early-stage investments to start-ups based in the Philippines, with particular focus on e-commerce, social media and mobile financial services.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Consumer
• Financials
• Early-stage
• Growth
• Venture
• Philippines
• seed
• 500 Startups
• Softbank