PayJoy has closed a $6 million funding round with strategic partners who should help PayJoy phone financing further expand internationally throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The investment was led by Santander InnoVentures, the Fintech venture capital fund of Santander Group, and ITOCHU Corporation, one of the largest Japanese general trading companies in Asia. Other strategic partners joined in funding round with representation from Brazil, Nigeria, Mexico, China, Vietnam, and Europe. PayJoy reports this round brings total investment in both equity and debt to $30 million since launch in 2015.
PayJoy is a Fintech startup based in San Francisco with offices in Mexico City. The company focuses on enabling the purchase of high-end smartphones for underbanked populations. Currently available in thousands of points of sale throughout the USA and Mexico, PayJoy analyzes an applicant’s working mobile number, valid photo ID, and Facebook account, and turns the phone itself into collateral through its proprietary secure locking technology. PayJoy CEO Doug Ricket was inspired by the challenge facing half of the world’s population who lack access to credit and cannot afford a smartphone.
Manuel Silva, Head of Investments at Santander InnoVentures, said that investing in PayJoy was indicative of Santander’s constant search to invest in great teams pushing the boundaries of Fintech;
“PayJoy’s mission is to help the less privileged join the digital economy and climb the economic ladder. PayJoy rethinks a basic financial service through the lens of innovation, technology, and data, and brings a simple and fair new offering to those who need it the most. We are impressed by PayJoy’s passion and vision and are thrilled to support them in their next chapter.”
Ricket added that it was his company’s strategy to partner with major players to quickly achieve scale;
“These strategic investors have offered to introduce PayJoy through their long-standing deep regional business networks, which I believe will be tremendously beneficial in accelerating our business partnerships and getting millions of customers onto smartphones in 2018.”