Francis Plaza steps down as PayMongo CEO

Y Combinator-backed Philippine fintech startup PayMongo has announced that its Co-Founder Francis Plaza has stepped down as President and CEO effective November 30, 2022, to pursue other ventures.

He has been replaced by Chief Operating Officer Isabel Ridad, who is the acting CEO. Ridad joined PayMongo in early 2021 as Chief of Staff and has worked as its COO since February.

Plaza will, however, act as an Advisor to the Boards of PayMongo Philippines and PayMongo Payments.

Plaza’s stepping down comes months after PayMongo was hit by many crises, including the fallout among top leaders, the firing of two co-founders, allegations of questionable spending by co-founders and employee harassment. The infightings and scandals in the company were broken by TechInAsia in a report published in August this year.

Also Read: PayMongo’s ex-CFO denies stealing money, apologises for remarks against female colleagues

As per that report, Plaza allegedly splurged money on extensive trips to Europe and the US and bought a luxury Porsche car. Some of his business class flight trips and a company loan taken to finance a property rental in the Philippines are also under ongoing investigation.‍ The PayMongo board, chaired by co-founder Luis Sia, had opened a formal investigation against Plaza, who was also a board member.

Founded in 2019 by Plaza, Luis Sia, Jaime Hing, and Edwin Lacierda, PayMongo empowers online businesses to accept the full range of payment options, including credit cards, e-wallets, and over-the-counter payments.

In February this year, PayMongo secured US$31 million in a Series B round of financing from investors, including JAM Fund (founded by Tinder founder Justin Mateen) and local VCs ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Kaya Founders. Previously, the fintech firm bagged US$12 million Series A led by Stripe in 2020 and US$2.7 million seed round from investors, including Y Combinator, in 2019.

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