Left to right: Joshua Marindo, Kathleen Acosta
JazzyPay, a fintech startup based in the Philippines, has raised US$500,000 in a seed round from Singaporean venture capital firm Cocoon Capital.
The company said that it will use the fresh funds for product development, to build its management team and grow its network of partner merchants across the country.
Founded in 2018, JazzyPay provides payments and invoicing solutions to consumers across Southeast Asia. It already has hundreds of partner merchants which include hospitals, schools, clinics, medical suppliers across the country. Some of them are Adventist Medical Center Manila, Adventist Hospital Santiago City, Manila Adventist College and the Dr Arturo P. Pingoy Medical Center.
According to co-founders Kathleen Acosta and Joshua Marindo, traditional players in the Philippines require businesses to pay deposits of US$10,000 per payment terminal, making it difficult for businesses to access digital payments because of its large ticket size.
They also added that they had both experienced personal difficulties of having delayed medical treatment due to an insufficient amount of cash in hand. This particularly inspired them to ensure that essential services and other businesses had easy access to cashless payment options.
Also Read: Grab launches new card to encourage cashless payments in the Philippines
“In an emergency, the payment method should be the least of your worries. With JazzyPay, all Filipinos, including overseas workers, are now empowered to pay for hospital bills and tuition fees for themselves and their families. Our secure platform gives overseas family members assurance that their funds go directly to the intended recipients,” said Acosta.
JazzyPay is fully licensed by the Philippine government and is a registered Operator of Payments System (OPS) regulated by the central bank of the Philippines.
The pandemic’s outbreak has prompted people to adopt cashless payment methods as a form of payment and, in turn, contributed to the rise of a new cashless society that would reduce the risk of the virus. Businesses in the Philippines are now striving harder to digitise themselves.
“COVID-19 has shown how businesses have to adapt fast to a new world to survive and enabling contactless payments is a key step to build resilience,” said William Klippgen, Managing Partner at Cocoon Capital, who recently joined the JazzyPay board of directors said.
The investment by Cocoon also reflects investor’s long-term confidence in the new norm of a growing cashless society.
In the Philippines, recently, notable funding round in the fintech sector includes a US$21 million Series A for Tonik Financial. In a recent survey, it is revealed that the Filipino customers are “more open” to create bank accounts via their smartphone, indicating readiness for more fintech services.
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Image Credit: JazzyPay
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