Consumer fintech Salmon today announces it has secured a USD20MM venture loan from U.S. emerging-markets specialist investment firm Argentem Creek Partners, enabling Salmon to further scale its lending operations across the Philippines. Building on significant investor interest in the transaction, Salmon will expand its loan book, leveraging its existing point-of-sale and cash loan lending, and will launch new disruptive products in the second half of 2023.
The transaction, which was completed despite the volatile market environment, sets a new benchmark as the largest ever venture-loan for a Series A tech company in the Philippines. The deal positions Salmon, which was founded less than a year ago in July 2022, as one of the fastest growing fintechs in Southeast Asia. Salmon was set up by a group of fintech and financial services industry veterans led by Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov and Raffy Montemayor, who brought together a team with a track record of delivering fast and profitable growth. In year one, the fintech has expanded rapidly, launching its first credit product only four months after inception and delivering new product launches every three months since then.
Argentem Creek Partners President and Co-CIO Maarten Terlouw commented: “Argentem Creek Partners is delighted to deliver an important component of Salmon’s capital structure. We are a long-term value-oriented investor and are excited to support Salmon in its ambitious drive to expand financial inclusion across the region, as well as to provide best-in-class customer service and make lending more accessible to consumers in the region.
“We look forward to working together with Salmon’s world class investors including Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ, one of Europe’s top venture investors and a group of prominent local investors, as well as Salmon’s top notch management team, to deliver long-term value in the Philippines.”
Argentem Creek Partners’ CEO and Founder Daniel Chapman commented: “Consumer lending is one of the fastest growing segments in Southeast Asia. We are convinced that the new generation of credit-focused fintechs like Salmon have a tremendous opportunity and that Argentem Creek could play an important role in driving forward financial inclusion in these exciting markets”.
Salmon Co-founder Raffy Montemayor commented: “We are tremendously humbled by the strong investor interest, as well as Argentem Creek’s support for Salmon’s vision to create the best credit-led fintech in Southeast Asia and for making financial services more accessible to all. We especially want to highlight Argentem Creek’s focus on building a win-win partnership with Salmon and believe that there will be many options for extending our work together, as Salmon maintains its rapid pace of development in Southeast Asia. We see this milestone as a testament to Salmon’s potential, as well as the market’s trust in our vision and business model. This transaction also conveys a message of hope to many young and aspiring Filipinos, highlighting to them the incredible opportunities that the global investment community sees in the Philippines today. Financial inclusion will be an important driver of sustainable economic growth in the Philippines, and Salmon is committed to continuing to play a key role in this transformation.”
About Salmon
Fintech Holdings Ltd (“Salmon”) was founded in July 2022 by banking and fintech veterans Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov, and Raffy Montemayor. Today, Salmon has more than 140 professionals in its Manila headquarters. Its platform enables customers to access financial products from the following partners registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Philippines:
Sunprime Finance Inc. – SEC Registration Number CS201916698 with Certificate of Authority Number 1241 (Online Lending Platform)
FHL Financing Company, Inc. – SEC Registration Number 2022100071291-07 with Certificate of Authority Number F-22-0038-29 (Service App only)
Please read the terms and conditions before availing any loan from Salmon’s financing partners.
About Argentem Creek Partners
Founded in 2015, Argentem Creek Partners is an emerging markets specialist investment firm with resources in Abu Dhabi, Buenos Aires, London, Minneapolis, and New York. The firm seeks to deliver uncorrelated emerging market alpha by investing in special situations, private credit, high yield, trade finance, and bespoke capital solutions. The firm specializes in identifying strategic and high-quality assets (in sectors such as energy, energy transition, critical minerals, agriculture, infrastructure, and technology) that may provide significant value upside. The investment strategy is executed through leading and implementing restructurings of balance sheets, capital structures, governance, identification of market dislocations and growth capital solutions. www.argentemcreek.com
