Phoenix Ventures: The Vietnam-First Investor Building Fintech’s “Bricks + Bytes” Across Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia, fintech doesn’t scale on product alone. It scales on rails: licenses, risk infrastructure, distribution, and the kind of institutional trust that lets new financial products move from “interesting” to “everyday.” That’s where Phoenix Holdings (often referenced as Phoenix Ventures) stands out. Rather than behaving like a conventional VC, Phoenix operates as a Vietnam-based family investment office with a VC-PE mindset, pairing tech bets with a broader financial ecosystem that includes regulated, brick-and-mortar financial services.

Fintech Rails, Vietnam First

Core Investment Focus

Phoenix’s activity points to a clear pattern: backing companies that modernize financial access while staying close to regulated reality, either through licensed partners or platform-level financial infrastructure. Phoenix is described as covering the financial services value chain (commercial bank, consumer finance, asset management, securities brokerage) complemented by fintech ventures like digital banking, BNPL, payments, SME lending, and P2P lending.

Expect the strongest fit in:

• Digital banking and modern bank experiences (Vietnam)

• BNPL and consumer credit, especially models built with local underwriting and compliant operating structures

• Payments and cashless adoption (including Grab-linked ecosystems in Vietnam)

• Alternative lending and P2P, where distribution and risk controls matter as much as UX

• Earned wage access and salary-linked products expanding into Vietnam

Geographic Focus

Phoenix is Vietnam-core, but its SEA relevance shows up in a very practical way: it often sits at the landing point for regional fintechs entering Vietnam.

• Indonesia to Vietnam: Kredivo’s Vietnam entry was implemented through a joint venture between FinAccel (Kredivo) and Phoenix Holdings, partnering with VietCredit to operate PayLater locally.

• Philippines to Vietnam: Advance raised US$16 million and expanded into Vietnam via an acquisition, with Phoenix listed among new investors.

Investment Strategy and Stage

Phoenix blends venture-style bets with platform and ecosystem building. They explicitly describe a “Built-to-Last” approach and a structure that spans licensed finance and tech ventures.

On check size: Phoenix’s typical ticket is not consistently disclosed publicly, but the range of observed activity spans:

• US$500,000 (Interloan, reported)

• Participation in larger venture rounds such as US$20 million (Timo) and US$16 million (Advance) as a named investor, without public disclosure of Phoenix’s exact allocation in those rounds

Portfolio Highlights: Backing Vietnam’s Fintech Stack (and SEA Entrants)

• Timo (Vietnam): Digital banking platform; Phoenix is cited as an existing investor in Timo’s US$20 million round led by Square Peg.

• Kredivo Vietnam (Vietnam and Indonesia corridor): BNPL expansion into Vietnam via a JV structure involving Phoenix; VietCredit named as the local partner for PayLater operations.

• VietCredit (Vietnam): Featured as part of Phoenix’s fintech ecosystem and as an operating partner in the Kredivo Vietnam setup.

• Interloan (Vietnam): P2P lending platform that received US$500,000 from Phoenix following Fintech Challenge Vietnam 2019 (reported by Tech in Asia).

• Advance (Philippines to Vietnam): Earned wage access startup that raised US$16 million (led by Do Ventures and Lendable); Phoenix listed among new investors as the company pushed into Vietnam via acquisition.

• AI Hay (Vietnam): Local genAI platform that raised a US$10 million Series A with Phoenix listed among participating investors.

• Moca (Vietnam): Payments company known for its strategic partnership with Grab to promote cashless payments in Vietnam; while Moca ceased its e-wallet services on Grab/Moca apps effective 1 July 2024, they would still remain as a strategic payments partner for parts of Grab’s ecosystem (as reported).

Why Founders Choose Phoenix

For fintech founders, Phoenix can feel less like a distant capital source and more like a local operating advantage, especially in Vietnam, where distribution, compliance, and institutional partnerships define the pace of scaling.

Phoenix’s edge tends to show up in three ways:

• Regulated proximity: Phoenix is described as spanning licensed financial services plus fintech ventures, useful for founders building in heavily regulated categories.

• Vietnam market-entry leverage: Their role in structures like Kredivo’s Vietnam expansion highlights how Phoenix can be a practical bridge for SEA fintechs entering Vietnam.

• Ecosystem thinking: Multiple sources describe a Phoenix-backed ecosystem that includes players like Timo, VietCredit, Kredivo, Advance, and references to BV Bank and VietCap, suggesting a network effect beyond one-off deals.

WOWS Global: Connecting You to Investors Like Phoenix Ventures

If you’re building fintech in Vietnam, or you’re a SEA team planning a Vietnam expansion, Phoenix is the kind of investor that often makes sense when your product needs more than capital: it needs rails, partners, and a credible local path to scale.

WOWS Global helps founders identify best-fit investors, shape the outreach narrative, and connect with capital partners aligned to their stage and market strategy, especially across Southeast Asia’s fast-evolving fintech landscape.

Ready to raise your next round? Send your pitch to our investment team. We’ll assess investor fit and connect you with the right conversations.