Talino Venture Studios led additional Seed funding raised by payment firm Higala

A global venture studio for sustainable innovation, Talino Venture Studios, has contributed additional funds to Higala, a Philippine instant payment system, increasing its seed funding round to $2.8 million.

According to a statement released by the company on Wednesday, 1982 Venture, a venture capital firm licensed in Singapore, led the seed fund extension round.

Additionally, Talino Ventures and Chemonics, two longtime investors, continued to support it.

“This funding milestone will allow Higala to accelerate the roll-out of services across its already robust ecosystem, which now includes an instant payment system, a platform bank, and an extensive network of collaborators who are all committed to improving financial system resilience and advancing the adoption of digital banking,” said Higala Chief Executive Officer Winston Damarillo.

According to him, the company wants to help strengthen and expedite its programs that encourage participation and interoperability of underserved financial institutions in the Philippines, as well as to promote financial inclusion in the nation.

Higala said that its platform banking, which is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of this year, will allow smaller banks and other financial institutions to provide digital payment services, serving as a gateway for their participation in and access to instant payment systems.

“Built on modern ISO 20022 native infrastructure, Higala’s network enables its partners to launch new services and reach new segments, while strengthening existing business
lines with increased reliability and lower costs,” stated Higala President and Chief Revenue Officer Vice Catudio.

In order to create new revenue streams based on system interoperability, he highlighted the backing of the company’s expanding network of network partners, which includes commercial banks, electronic money issuers, and operators of payment systems.

As the first operator of an inclusive instant payments system in the Philippines, Higala links banks, e-money issuers, and financial institutions via an open payments infrastructure.

Based on Mojaloop technology, the company supports the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ mission to promote financial inclusion by making transactions easy, affordable, and accessible for all.

“Higala’s innovative approach to inclusive instant payments is directly aligned with our vision of using fintech to change lives,

“The firm’s team is incredible with a proven track record in building core payments infrastructure and we are proud to partner with the firm in launching a modern payments rail, which will make the Philippines’ five billion monthly transactions faster, cheaper, and available to all sectors of the economy,” said Scott Krivokopich, Managing Partner at 1982 Ventures.