Heaptalk, Jakarta — Asia’s earned-wage access (EWA) startup, Paywatch, has obtained US$30 million in funding from a combination of equity and credit facilities to supercharge its growth.
In the detailed investment, this startup received over US$14 million in a Series A equity fund led by Third Prime and a consortium of US investors, including Vanderbilt University and the University of Illinois Foundation. New investors Octagon Venture Partners and Wooshin Venture Investment Corporation participated.
Also, Paywatch secures US$16 million in credit facilities from global banks, including Citi and other major banks, to fund its product expansion plan. A significant portion of Paywatch’s Series A funding will be used to further enhance the company’s embedded finance offerings and other innovation efforts.
“Amidst the tech winter, we take immense pride in the confidence these esteemed investors and banks show in our vision. We firmly believed that providing EWA with the lowest nominal fee users while ensuring access to major financial institutions was the sustainable path. Although it was a more challenging route to market, our rapid growth and portfolio of high-caliber enterprise clients validate our approach,” President and Co-Founder of Paywatch, Alex Kim, said.
Paywatch offers a debt-free EWA service, also known as on-demand pay, an innovative employee benefit that allows workers to instantly access a part of their accumulated salary in employee a real-time as it is earned, and before the end of their payroll cycle. With this service, its solution has demonstrably decreased employees’ dependence on loans, alleviated household debt and enhanced financial management.
Paywatch’s growth and partners
To date, Paywatch has processed over US$58 million in salaries through its system and increased its disbursements to nearly US$8 million per month, which is growing month-over-month by as much as 15%. The company expects to reach well over US$120 million in salaries disbursed by the end of the year, more than doubling its lifetime volume.
Notable global brands like Park Hyatt, DFI Retail Group (including Guardian), KFC, Pizza Hut (part of QSR Brands), Wilmar International, PayNet, CGV cinemas, Lotus’s, Jaya Grocer (an affiliate of Grab), major BPO centers and manufacturing companies have all partnered with Paywatch.
“When we look to Asia, we see Paywatch becoming the leading change agent in the region with enormous momentum. It is a thrilling time to witness the rapid adoption of earned wage access as it spreads across markets with different regulations and cultures, all working towards the same end goal of optimizing outcomes for the employee and the employer,” General Partner of Third Prime, Michael Kim, affirmed.
