Homegrown financial technology (fintech) startup NextPay has breached the P1-billion mark in total transaction volume in 2021, prompting its founders to paint a rosy outlook for 2022.
NextPay CEO and Co-Founder Don Pansacola called this a “milestone” for the startup, which gained traction last year after being launched in 2020. He attributed the recorded volume to the growth in invoice payments, employee salaries, and vendor payments last year.
He added that NextPay’s customer base ballooned by “roughly 20 times over the last 12 months,” serving various small and medium enterprises in industries like consumer goods, technology, healthcare, investment management, automotive, e-commerce, and agriculture.
“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,” said NextPay CEO and Co-Founder Don Pansacola.
“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.”
To recall, NextPay raised a total of $1.9 million—twice as much as its target of $1 million—from the pre-seed round from Silicon Valley-based startup accelerator Y Combinator as well as the $1.6 million from 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.
Last year, NextPay also beefed up its platform, introducing innovations such as reusable payment links and online-to-offline disbursements via remittance centers.
“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.
NextPay, which claims to democratize financial access by offering big banking services without the steep requirements and high fees, also plans to start its new round of funding “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.