• Published on 14 June 2020
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tonik raises $21 million series A led by Sequoia India and Point72

Tonik Financial Pte Ltd (tonik) announced that it closed a $21 million round of Series A equity funding. The round was led by blue-chip venture capital (VC) investors Sequoia India and Point72 Ventures, with a significant participation from previous VC investors Insignia and Credence. tonik will use the funding to launch its digital bank in the Philippines, targeting the start of commercial operations in the third quarter of 2020. 

tonik was recently granted its own bank licence by the banking regulator in the Philippines. This makes tonik the first digital-only neobank in Southeast Asia and one of the very few globally to be operating on the basis of its own bank licence. In the company's estimates, Philippines represents a $140 billion retail savings market and a $100 billion unsecured consumer lending opportunity.

tonik is led by founder and chief executive officer Greg Krasnov, who had previously incubated four fintech startups in the consumer finance space in Asia, as well as founded, built and successfully exited a significant consumer finance bank in emerging Europe.

"COVID-19 is causing consumers all over the globe to save more for emergencies, to care more about the safety of their money as well as about earning a fair interest rate on their deposits while having access to their funds for easy withdrawal and transfer,” Krasnov said. “In the Philippines, where over 70% of the population remains unbanked, we are observing a rapid jump in consumer demand for digital banking and digital transfers since the start of the year. We are preparing to bring a highly differentiated experience to the Filipino consumer to address these needs and are honored to be supported in this by the regulators who have encouraged innovation and welcomed technology solutions to bolster financial inclusion."

Pete Casella, the head of fintech investments at Point72 Ventures, commented, "We believe deeply in tonik's vision for a digital bank that is underpinned by the customer protections inherent in being a government-approved bank and also the flexibility of being a completely digital startup. This unique combination will enable tonik to provide truly innovative products to its customers while also capturing the benefit of bank economics."

Re-disseminated by The Asian Banker