Aspire raises $158 million

Aspire, the Singapore-based neobank that wants to become an “end-to-end financial operating system” for Southeast Asian businesses, has raised $158 million in equity and debt. The equity part, a $58 million Series B round, was led by an undisclosed global growth equity firm, with participation from DST Global Partners, CE Innovation Fund, B Capital Partners, Fasanara Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Picus Capital, and AFG. In addition, several fintech founders also backed the startup including Taavet Hinrikus (co-founder of Wise), Alexandre Prot and Steve Anavi (co-founders of Qonto), Pierpaolo Barbieri (founder of Uala), Moses Lo (co-founder of Xendit), Hendra Kwik (co-founder of Payfazz), and Gerry Colyer (co-founder of Clara).

Founded in 2018, Aspire initially offered working capital loans for SMEs but its product mix has grown to now include bank accounts for cross-border businesses, corporate credit cards, expense management and bill pay, and it will soon offer invoice management.

“We see a world dominated by integrated platforms across various business functions such as Salesforce for Sales or Slack for Communication. We believe the same is happening for finance and we are here to build the operating system for the SouthEast Asia digital economy. We build value for our customers by saving time, saving money, and boosting their growth.” – Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and co-founder of Aspire.