smartphone financing tech startup PayJoy raises $20 million

Funding Rounds

▤ Summary

NEW YORK (Reuters) - PayJoy, a startup that has developed smartphone technology to facilitate access to credit in emerging markets, has raised $20 million from venture capital firm Greylock Partners, the company said on Thursday. PayJoy enables consumers with no bank accounts or formal credit history to purchase smartphones on installment payments and get cash loans. Josh McFarland, a partner at Greylock, said he believes PayJoy’s technology and distribution network could help emerging markets unlock some of their economic growth. These include Mutual in Brazil, Waynimovil in Argentina, MyBucks in South Africa, Panacredito in the Dominican Republic, Omnipagos in Honduras and COINFIN in Colombia. PayJoy’s technology does not make underwriting reliant on traditional credit scores, but seeks to increase consumers’ willingness to pay by taking advantage of their desire to access the phone, which in turn can help keep default rates in check, Heynen said.

$ Funding

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Amount $20.0M Total raised
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Date May 23, 2019 Announcement date
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Investors Reuters Venture Capital, EchoVC Partners, Union Square Ventures, Greylock Lead investors
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Company https://www.payjoy.com Funded company

▥ Classifications

industries
Fintech & Banking
applications
Accounting and Taxes

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