Homegrown fintech startup NextPay has surpassed the P1-billion mark in terms of total transaction volume in 2021, a growth momentum that the digital financial solutions platform expects to continue in 2022.
Invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor payments were the main drivers for this milestone, backed by a customer base that has grown by roughly 20x over the last 12 months.
NextPay’s customers include small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and growing businesses in a wide spectrum of industries, including consumer goods, technology, healthcare, investment management, automotive, e-commerce, and agriculture, among others.
“The year 2021 was a banner year for NextPay. From being part of the prestigious Y Combinator Program and successfully closing an oversubscribed seed funding round, we were able to successfully grow our base and reach the P1-billion mark in total transaction volume. We expect to persist on a growth path this 2022, as we continue to introduce more innovative financial services that empower growing businesses with big banking solutions,” NextPay chief executive officer and co-founder Don Pansacola said.
Last year, NextPay raised a total of $1.9 million, twice as much as its target of raising $1 million in total investments for 2021. The amount includes the pre-seed backing of Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator and the seed funding round that was led by Singapore-based venture capitalist Golden Gate Ventures and Gentree Fund, a private investment vehicle of the Sy Family, which owns Filipino conglomerate SM Group.
NextPay, launched in 2020 amid the pandemic, is a platform that provides underserved customers democratized access to easy and affordable financial services such as digital invoicing, cash management, and batch payments to any bank or e-wallet in the Philippines.
Last year, it introduced new services like Reusable Payment Links, which allow businesses to collect customer payments easily by letting them click on a link that allows them to settle with the payment method they prefer.
Payment Links were also used for the donation drive for Typhoon Odette last year. As of today, NextPay and its partner organizations were able to raise P1.43 million in total donations for the victims of the typhoon.
Aside from Payment Links, NextPay also introduced online-to-offline (O2O) disbursements through remittance centers to address the growing demand for more digital financial services in the Philippines.
NextPay has also rolled out several improvements on the platform to make managing a business easier and streamlined for its customers.
“As we continue to evolve as a fintech startup that addresses the needs of growing businesses, we reaffirm our commitment to further improving our platform through innovation. We aim to introduce more flexible disbursement options, as well as explore high-growth areas of trade financing, corporate cards, and cryptocurrency services,” NextPay chief experience officer and co-founder Aldrich Tan said.
To do this, NextPay plans to launch fundraising activities within the first half of 2022.
“We are optimistic about the opportunities for the year 2022. As we start the next round of fundraising this year, we remain committed to providing big banking services to small businesses. We will continue to innovate this year and introduce more digital financial services to serve the ever-evolving needs of our customers,” Pansacola said.
