Ex Tinkoff execs raise $16m for fintech start-up

According to a statement released on Monday, three former executives of the Russian online bank Tinkoff have collected $16 million to build a fintech start-up with a primary focus on Southeast Asia and the Philippines.

The trio in charge of the business all left Tinkoff in the second quarter, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia led to sanctions from the West and the news that Tinkoff’s London-listed owner TCS Group Holding intended to grow in Asia.

George Chesakov, a co-founder of Tinkoff who had previously announced a partnership between TCS and Swiss payment expert BPC in the Philippines as part of a $200 million expansion into Asia, is one of the guys in charge of the fintech start-up.

The other two leaders of the competing company are Raffy Montemayor, a Filipino who will run the new operation in the Philippines, and Pavel Fedorov, who will serve as joint CEO of Tinkoff in 2021–2022.