Salmon Group Ltd., an innovative consumer financial technology company that focuses on providing short-term credit to consumers underserved by traditional banks., said it secured a $7-million investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.
“This strategic investment reflects our confidence in Salmon’s vision of providing modern, affordable and easy-to-access banking services to every Filipino,” said IFC Philippines country manager Jean-Marc Arbogast.
“By pioneering investment in AI-enabled products in the country that will disrupt the market and traditional lenders, we hope to fill important gaps in the banking industry,” he said.
Salmon operates and owns a licensed bank (Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa Laguna Inc.) in the Philippines. Founded in July 2022, Salmon uses AI-enabled technology and a proprietary credit engine to offer market-disruptive consumer loans such as Salmon Credit, Salmon Installment and Salmon Cash Loans.
IFC joins the $25-million Series A extension round (Series A-1) as a lead investor alongside Northstar Group, a Singapore-headquartered private equity fund, ADQ/Lunate and other local and international investors.
The capital will enable Salmon to develop new credit products and a lifestyle banking offering, which Salmon plans to launch in the second half of 2024. IFC will also work with Salmon to further strengthen its role as a responsible lender.
“We are excited to welcome IFC and Northstar as our partners. IFC is one of the largest venture capital investors in emerging markets, and we share IFC’s commitment to leveraging disruptive technology to boost access to banking among the underserved,” said Salmon co-founder Raffy Montemayor.
The majority of Philippines’ adult population remains underserved by existing banks, especially in access to modern technology-centric credit products. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, only 25 percent have access to formal credit.