August 29, 2022
Technode Global Staff
Malaysian private equity firm Creador has led a pre-Series A round of $11 million for UnoAsia, operator of Uno Digital Bank, one of only six licensed digital banks in the Philippines.
UnoAsia had already raised $33.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding, of which $21 million came from Creador.
Creador said in a statement that the private equity firm expects to put in more capital, making it UnoAsia’s largest investor.
Other investors of UnoAsia include Manish Bhai and Kalidas Ghose, the founders of UnoAsia, Akash Bhanshali of Payash Securities and Samir Arora of Helios Capital.
UnoAsia, which is headquartered in Singapore, plans to set up digital banking entities across key markets in South and Southeast Asia over the next five years.
The immediate priority is the Philippines, where Uno Digital Bank has been licensed under the country’s digital banking license framework. The first products are set to be issued later this year.
“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,’” Bhai said in a statement.
Bhai previously spent nearly 25 years with Citi, while Ghose founded Vietnam-based consumer finance business FE Credit.
Creador managing director Omar Mahmoud said that digital banks represent an opportunity to serve the 45 million people in the Philippines – nearly two-thirds of the adult population – who are underbanked.
“Our investment in UnoAsia will allow us to promote financial inclusion in a country where only 10% are borrowing from the organised sector, which in turn would make a positive impact on millions of Filipinos and the broader community,” he said.