Philippine fintech Advance secures $16M in pre-Series A funding led by Do Ventures, Lendable

Philippine fintech Advance has successfully secured $16 million in pre-Series A funding led by Do Ventures out of Vietnam and Lendable, a technology-enabled investment and debt provider to fintechs in emerging markets.

New investors Phoenix Holdings, Kaya Founders, Foxmont Capital, Oyster Ventures and Crossocean Ventures, as well as existing investors Wavemaker Partners, Next Billion Ventures, Integra Partners and Accion Venture Lab also participated in the round,

Along with the new funding, Advance announced that it has expanded into Vietnam with the acquisition of a counterparty platform there.

With this latest increase, Advance will introduce more innovative financial products and offer its services to more partners in the Philippines and Vietnam.

“The success of our fundraising exercise supports our goal of providing fair and accessible financial services, especially for underserved employees,

“We are very excited about the prospect of doing this in two markets, both of which are still dealing with a large credit gap across loan segments,” said Jaime de los Angeles, CEO and co-founder of Advance.

Since 2018, Advance has provided salary advances and other financial services to underserved workers in the Philippines, where nearly half of the population remains
unbanked.

In almost five years, the company has gained the trust of over 200 companies in the country, including major industry players such as Sitel Philippines, Inspiro, Cebuana Lhuillier and ePerformax.

According to the statement, Advance will now serve thousands of employees in Vietnam.

The firm just acquired BravoHr, a Vietnam-based platform that offers digital solutions for employee engagement, benefits and rewards.

BravoHr’s key clients include some of the biggest global brands such as McDonalds, L’Oreal and AstraZeneca.

“Advance has the potential to provide greater financial stability and security for workers across emerging economies via their technology-enabled on-demand credit platform,

“Given the similarities between the economic landscape of Vietnam and the Philippines, we are positive about the team
will be able to apply its playbook to Vietnam’s untapped market and help improve the economic prosperity of millions of Vietnamese employees,” said Vy Le, Co-Founder and General Partner of Do Ventures.

With Advance, employees can easily access a portion of their pay using a flexible line of credit through the Advance mobile app in as fast as a few seconds, when needed.

Users of Advance are also equipped with financial tools designed to significantly improve the various aspects of their financial journey.

Advance has recently expanded its offerings to include other credit solutions and financial wellness and education products from its business partners.

“Advance has developed a viable product and demonstrated proven traction in providing the underbanked working population with access to credit,

“We are confident in the scalability of the business and are excited to support its growth to promote employee welfare and income stability for workers in the Philippines and the wider Southeast Asia region,” said Ruoyun Yang, head of Asia at Lendable.

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