Ant-Backed Mynt Seeks More Funding On Heels Of $175 Million Round

Globe Fintech Innovations of the Philippines, the FinTech arm of Globe Telecom, landed $175 million in additional venture funding this month. Now, Globe Fintech, known as Mynt, is reportedly on the hunt for more cash — and looking to get a valuation over $1 billion.

Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday (Jan. 20) that Mynt is eyeing a further round of fundraising. On its website, the Manila-based Mynt says it is a FinTech “startup partnership” between Globe Telecom, the Ayala Corp. and China-based Ant Group.

Mynt is the operator of the mobile wallet GCash. The company “made significant gains in 2020 that further cemented our status as the leading finance app in the country,” Ernest L. Cu, the company’s board chairman, said when sealing the deal on the latest funding round.

Mynt CEO Martha Sazon told Nikkei Asia that the company was already considering more fundraising. “What I can tell you is we could open up another round this year,” she said.

Mynt’s funding round this month was led by Bow Wave Capital Management, a new investor. Nikkei Asia said New York-based Bow Wave got a 14 percent stake in Mynt, putting the valuation just short of $1 billion.

Now Mynt is looking to top that and transform into a unicorn, which is a privately held startup worth over $1 billion.

After the Bow Wave deal, the shareholdings of Globe Telecom and Ant, an affiliate company of Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, went down to 40 percent. Previously, both owned 46 percent of Mynt, Nikkei Asia reported. Ayala’s stake declined to 6 percent, down from 8 percent. Nikkei said that “Bow Wave is mandated to invest in online payment companies backed by Alibaba.”

Sazon said that a prospective investor should be “someone who is aligned to the GCash story and vision, which is providing financial services for all.” She added that “the investor has to have an appreciation of the dynamics in the Philippines and the challenges that we have.”