Manila — October 2026. Salmon Group, the Philippine banking and lending company built on technology, has raised a further $140 million (about PHP 8.8 billion) and says it will now concentrate its ambitions entirely on the Philippines.

"We are doubling down on the opportunity in the Philippines," co-founder Pavel Fedorov said in announcing the financing.

Where the money goes

The company named two priorities. First, it will grow the lending lines it already runs profitably: the Salmon Credit Line and its in-store lending product. Second, it will fund a nationwide launch of new products, with motorcycle loans and loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the front of the pipeline.

A weekly fintech roundup reports that the raise combines $90 million in equity commitments from Spice Expeditions, WashU and Moore with $50 million raised through bonds.

Under four years, millions of users

Salmon has been operating for less than four years. It runs through two regulated entities: Salmon Bank, a rural bank licensed by the BSP, and Salmon Finance, a financing company licensed by the SEC.

The company reports that its app has 9 million downloads, a 4.8 rating on both the App Store and Google Play, and 99.9% uptime. Salmon Finance uses an AI-driven credit engine to assess applicants, which lets it lend to people with thin credit files and return decisions in minutes.

Why it matters

Access to credit for people outside the traditional banking system is one of the most persistent gaps in the Philippine economy. A lender that can underwrite thin-file borrowers quickly, and now has fresh capital to extend into motorcycle loans and MSME credit, is aimed squarely at that gap.

It also fits a wider pattern in Philippine startup funding. A Kickstart Ventures and DealStreetAsia report on the first half of 2026 found that a single company, Salmon, accounted for about three-fourths of the money raised by local startups. Large rounds are going to a small number of mature companies.

Sources: FinTech Global, StartupMafia, Manila Bulletin