Salmon Group Ltd, a financial services company based in the Philippines, has raised $88 million to grow its services and make credit more accessible across Southeast Asia.
In a statement on Tuesday, the company explained that the $88 million funding includes two parts: $60 million was raised through a bond agreement with Nordic investors, which is part of a larger $150 million, three-year deal. The remaining $28 million came from selling new shares to top U.S. institutional investors, Antler Elevate, and some of Salmon’s existing investors.
Salmon’s current investors include the International Finance Corporation, Abu Dhabi’s government-owned fund ADQ/Lunate, Northstar, Back in Black Capital, and several well-known Filipino investors.
The equity funding was led by Spice Expeditions, LP (Spice), a venture capital firm that invests in financial services around the world. Spice was started in 2024 by Nick Huber, who was previously a partner at Ribbit Capital.
The bond deal is also notable—it’s the first time a tech company from Southeast Asia has issued a Nordic bond.
With a total of $88 million raised, this is one of the biggest recent investments in the Philippines’ financial technology sector. It helps position Salmon as one of the leading challenger banks in the country.
“Salmon is on a mission to revolutionize banking in Southeast Asia. For too long, the legacy banks in the region provided sub-standard products, service and customer experience, and the Philippines is the case in point of this,” said Pavel Fedorov, Co-founder of Salmon.
At Salmon, he believes in the strength of their technology and unique AI solutions to offer better products to customers—especially making it easier for people to access credit, which can be truly life-changing.
“Even though Salmon is only two and a half years old, today we have one of the highest-rated financial service applications in the Philippines, are present both online and at 3,000+ locations across the country and offer four consumer credit products that unlock access to better lives for millions,
“The 8.88 per cent deposit rate offered by our BSP-regulated bank is the highest in the Philippines as we pass cost efficiencies of our tech-centric model and limited branch infrastructure directly to bank depositors,” he said.
With this funding now complete and the support of Salmon’s exceptional team, he said the company is ready to become a leading player in the financial services industry across Southeast Asia.
Salmon runs a bank in the Philippines that is regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), called the Rural Bank of Sta. Rosa Laguna, along with lending companies licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The company’s goal is to build a tech-driven bank focused on credit across Southeast Asia, with the Philippines as its first market.
Founded in July 2022 by experienced banking and tech leaders Pavel Fedorov, George Chesakov, and Raffy Montemayor, Salmon uses innovative technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and its credit system to offer different types of loans—like Salmon Credit, Salmon Installment, and Salmon Cash Loans. These services aim to make borrowing money simpler, faster, and more convenient for customers.
In 2024, backed by the strong performance of its loan business, Salmon’s Bank launched a time deposit product that offers an interest rate of 8.88%, making it one of the most attractive savings options in the Philippines.
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