Salmon Group Ltd, a credit-focused fintech based in the Philippines, has raised $100 million in fresh capital through a mix of equity and public bonds. The raise is one of the largest funding announcements in Philippine fintech this year – and it’s a strong signal that global investors still see enormous room to grow in a country where most people don’t have a credit card.
For Filipinos, this matters directly. Only around 10 million out of the country’s 115 million people currently have credit cards – a gap that Salmon has been building its entire business around. More capital means more reach, more products, and potentially more Filipinos getting their first taste of formal credit.
The financing round includes $60 million in equity, anchored by US-based venture firm Spice Expeditions, with Washington University Investment Management Company, Moore Strategic Ventures, and FJ Labs also joining alongside existing backers. The remaining $40 million comes from a public bond issuance priced at a 13.7% yield under Salmon’s Nordic bond program.
Salmon said the equity proceeds will fund product expansion, deepen its distribution network, and strengthen the capital base of Salmon Bank – its BSP-regulated rural banking unit. Bond proceeds will be used to scale its lending portfolio.
Pavel Fedorov, co-founder of Salmon Group, was direct about the priorities: “The capital will allow us to move faster on every front: more products, more reach, even greater capitalisation of Salmon Bank, and better experience for our customers,” he said.
This isn’t Salmon’s first big capital move in recent months. In March, Salmon Bank secured a P400 million capital injection from its parent company, bringing its total equity to ₱1.6 billion and lifting its Core Equity Tier 1 ratio to 23.1 percent – well above the BSP minimum of 6 percent. And just last week, Salmon Bank began offering time deposits starting at P5,000, with rates reaching up to 8% per annum for deposits of ₱1 million and above – positioning itself as an alternative for Filipinos looking to beat the BSP’s projected inflation rate of 5.1% this year.
What’s worth watching here is the dual-funding structure. Salmon is one of the few Philippine fintechs actively tapping the Nordic bond market, a route that Fedorov has noted offers deep liquidity, a tested legal framework, and a scalable structure – meaning each new bond drawdown costs less to set up than the last. The dual-tranche structure reflects a broader trend among Southeast Asian fintechs tapping both equity and debt markets to diversify funding sources amid volatile global capital conditions. For a company still building out its loan book, that mix of patient debt and growth equity is a smart way to grow without over-diluting.
Salmon was founded in July 2022 by Fedorov, George Chesakov, and Raffy Montemayor, and is backed by the International Finance Corporation, Abu Dhabi’s ADQ/Lunate, and venture firm Antler, among others. With this latest raise, the company has now taken in over $200 million in total funding since its founding – a remarkable run for a three-year-old fintech operating in a market long dominated by traditional banks.
The company’s next moves – particularly how it expands Salmon Bank’s product lineup beyond loans and time deposits – will be worth following closely for anyone watching the future of digital finance in the Philippines.
