Salmon raises $100M in equity and debt to bring digital credit to underbanked Filipinos

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TLDR

  • Manila-based Salmon raised $60M equity and $40M debt to scale digital consumer lending in the Philippines.

Key Facts

  • Salmon targets Filipinos with little or no credit history, using behavioral and digital data to score borrowers in real time.
  • The company offers seven or eight products including revolving credit, installment loans, motorbike loans, and deposits at up to 8% interest.
  • Salmon acquired a rural bank in January 2024 to secure its banking license rather than applying from scratch.
  • Total funding to date is $310M ($160M equity, $150M bonds); this round’s investors include FJ Labs and Washington University Investment Management Company.

Why It Matters

  • Salmon can approve a loan and have a motorbike ready for pickup the next morning, replacing a process that previously took weeks.
  • The Nordic bond market debt structure reflects how the company finances loans separately from operations, a model typical for licensed lenders.

Kate Park, TechCrunch · 2026-04-23 · Read the original