Salmon Group Ltd, a credit-focused fintech based in the Philippines, has announced raising $140 million in capital through a mix of equity and public bonds.
The financing round comprises $90 million in equity financing commitments from Spice Expeditions, Washington University Investment Management Company, Moore Strategic Ventures, and other existing backers.
The remainder comprises a $50-million public bond issuance. A company spokesperson said the funding was raised in a fresh round.
Salmon said the fresh funding will support the growth of its Salmon Credit Line and in-store lending businesses, which the company said are profitable, as well as the launch of motorcycle and MSME lending products.
Founded in July 2022, Salmon operates through Salmon Bank (Rural Bank) Inc., which is licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Salmon Finance Inc., a financing company licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The group serves customers through its Salmon mobile app, which has recorded 9 million downloads, according to the company.
Its financing arm uses an artificial intelligence-powered credit engine to assess borrowers with limited credit histories and deliver credit decisions within minutes.
“We are doubling down on the opportunity in the Philippines as we believe deeply in its scale and in the importance of focus to deliver a differentiated execution,” said Pavel Fedorov, Salmon’s co-founder.
In April this year, Salmon announced raising $100 million in fresh capital, also through a mix of equity and public bonds involving similar investors.
In September last year, Salmon said it raised $50 million through a Nordic bond. It also raised $88 million—$60 million from its Nordic bond and $28 million in equity led by US venture capital firm Spice Expeditions in June.
Salmon is backed by a mix of global and regional investors, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Abu Dhabi’s ADQ/Lunate, and venture firm Antler.
Fedorov earlier told DealStreetAsia that the Nordic bond market offers the benefits of strong depth, a well-tested legal framework, and the ability to put in place scalable bond programmes, allowing us to leverage all the legal work from the first drawdown for future raises.
