MANILA -- Filipino-American fintech startup BayaniPay on Thursday said it has secured fresh capital of $3 million as it eyes to grow the company tenfold this year.

From hitting $20 million payments processed last year, the company aims to grow that to $200 million this year.

BayaniPay CEO Winston Damarillo said they have changed their business model from business-to consumer (B2C) to business-to-business (B2B), as they aim to make it easier for the customers of businesses to pay.

BayaniPay is a global payments process automation company which has been partnering with various Philippine companies like real estate firms, making it easier for Filipinos overseas to pay back to Philippine companies. 

It is also in partnership with educational institutions and insurance companies as they aim to push or ‘remittance for investments’.

“Started out as person-to-person payments- that’s remittance and has grown into a person-to-institution, for instance you’re buying and paying for your condos that you bought in Philippines while you live in the US,” he said.

It also unveiled its Bayani GlobalPay, an embedded banking service to help businesses and major billing entities efficiently reach customers from anywhere in the world. 

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Damarillo said they are not simply a payment gateway company, but one that helps businesses in the entire payment process using their new technology. And he hopes this service can also help fuel economic growth.

“If it becomes really convenient to buy more properties in the Philippines. If it’s really convenient to invest in the growth of the Philippines. And payment platforms certainly is an important capability for that and I think our remittance numbers would even grow further,” he sad.

Lead investors Wavemaker Partners, PTGB, and Talino Venture Studios initially seed-funded $6.6 million, but have added now $3 million as they see the potential growth of a cross-border payments process automation service.

“Eliminate the expense underneath, not only help the sender, but it also help the efficiency on the recipient side. We think the Filipino diaspora is a pretty good use case for this,” said Eric Manlunas, Founder and Managing Partner of Wavemaker Partners.

BayaniPay now is looking at other countries in Southeast Asia for expansion. It aims to replicate the Philippine model in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia where many residents have also migrated or work in other countries. 

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