Homegrown fintech startup NextPay, an all-in-one digital banking solutions provider, has received a USD $125,000 backing from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator to expand its services further and address the growing problem of financially-underserved businesses in the Philippines.
With this pre-seed investment, NextPay becomes one of the first five Filipino tech start-ups to be backed and selected by global powerhouse Y Combinator, together with Kalibrr (2013), PayMongo (2019), Avion School (2021), and Dashlabs.ai (2021). Y Combinator is popularly known as the launchpad of many iconic startups such as Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Twitch, among many others.
NextPay puts the power of big banks in the hands of small businesses. The platform gives growing companies 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.
“Our goal is to empower smaller businesses with a spectrum of banking services that were previously unavailable to them because of the steep requirements and high fees that are typically aimed at larger, more developed companies that can afford them. This funding round from Y Combinator allows us to scale even faster to bring digital financial services closer to MSMEs,” NextPay Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Don Pansacola said.
Through the $125,000 investment from Y Combinator, the NextPay founders want to leverage their previous experience working in “unicorn” companies to expand their line of digital banking services. Their plans include new digital solutions for payments, credit, and personal cash management.
“We plan to introduce more payment acceptance methods, virtual credit cards, and other digital solutions that enable businesses to manage their cash flow and alleviate the bottlenecks of the Philippine financial landscape. We will also partner with human resource and accounting software companies to further streamline the financial operations of a growing company,” Pansacola said.
Since its launch in 2020, NextPay has processed over USD $2.5 million (PHP 120 million) in digital transactions for more than 100 businesses—and is quickly growing. Customers of NextPay can enjoy reduced processing times from as much as 3 days to just 30 minutes.
NextPay is positioning to enable more businesses, entrepreneurs, and freelancers to centralize all their financial requirements through one easy-to-use, affordable, and inclusive platform.
“The opportunity to provide digital financial services to these market segments, which make up 99.5% of all businesses, and are the lifeblood of the Philippine economy, is huge. Through our platform, MSMEs can conduct their transactions seamlessly and allow business owners to free up resources and focus on their operations. This optimization and focus are vital in supporting and strengthening the country’s efforts towards economic recovery. ” NextPay Chief Experience Officer and Co-Founder Aldrich Tan said.
“NextPay wants to help the Philippines bounce back. We want to enable growing enterprises to maximize their capital, reach more customers, and generate more jobs and opportunities. This then stimulates economic transactions and creates demand for stronger partnerships. It’s a domino effect, but it starts from having a digital platform like NextPay who empowers MSMEs to thrive and do more,” Pansacola said. – BusinessNewsAsia.com