Isabel Ridad, the current Chief Operating Officer (COO) of fintech firm PayMongo, has been appointed as the acting CEO following the resignation of Francis Plaza, the company’s founder.
Ridad joined in early 2021 as Chief of Staff and has worked as the company’s COO since February of this year. This is a significant change for the company, which has been growing rapidly since it was founded in 2019.
In a statement, the company announced that Plaza, who will be stepping down effective on 30 November, is pursuing other ventures but will remain an advisor to PayMongo Philippines and PayMongo Payments boards.
The fintech startup has been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent months. This includes in-fighting between its founders, which has led to the departure of two co-founders, harassment allegations, and a general lack of structure within the company.
Co-founders Edwin Lacierda, who served as the company’s chief commercial officer, left in mid-2021, while Luis Sia, who remains the board chairman, left the company in March. Meanwhile, Jay Olos, the company’s former CFO, resigned in May.
In February, PayMongo raised US$31 million in a series B round, with participation from Justin Mateen’s JAM Fund, ICCP-SBI Venture Partners, and Lisa Gokongwei’s Kaya Founders, along with returning investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital.
The round, which brought its total funding to about US$46 million, came just a few months after the startup raised $12 million in a series A round led by Stripe.
PayMongo said it had tripled its merchant base to over 10,000 businesses and quadrupled monthly transaction volumes.
Featured image credit: edited from Unsplash
