Skype co-founder raises US$20 million to expand online lending venture focused on financial inclusion in Southeast Asia
- Oriente’s latest round of financing will help expand its online lending venture in the Philippines
- Oriente also runs the Finmas online lending platform in Indonesia with Sinar Mas group
Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice has raised US$20 million of debt financing for his start-up venture that targets financial inclusion in Southeast Asia, as innovations in the region’s payment system bring greater competition in the field.
The latest funding can be increased to US$50 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Oriente raised US$105 million in its previous round of financing in November from its founders and other family conglomerates like Philippine JG Summit Holdings and Indonesian Sinar Mas Group.
“There is a long way to go,” co-founder Prentice said in an email comment. “We are very excited to expand our various inclusive financing solutions to more Filipino communities across the archipelago wherever they are, both online and offline,” he said.
Prentice co-founded Skype and served as its chief strategy officer.
Silverhorn’s funding comes as competition in the Southeast Asian digital payment space increases with greater smartphone penetration rate. The market for digital payments in Southeast Asia will exceed US$1 trillion in transaction value by 2025, led by innovations in consumer lending and financing to small to medium-sized businesses, according to a 2019 study by Bain & Co, Google and Temasek Holdings.
