Startup Funding Is Difficult Again, Aspire Has Just Closed Oversubscribed Series-C Funding of 100 Million US Dollars

Co-founder and CEO Aspire Andrea Baronchelli (left), founder Aspire Giovanni Casinelli (right). (Dok. Aspire)

JAKARTA - Aspire, B2B's financial software, announced today that it has received share-series-C funding in oversubscribed conditions.

The fundraising was attended by Lightspeed and Sequoia Capital SEA, Paypal Ventures, LGT Capital Partners and previous investors, Picus Capital and Mass Mutual Ventures with 100 million US dollars in series-C funding.

Aspire was founded in 2018 and started entering the Indonesian market in 2019. They provide financial services to make it easier to manage business operational finances. Software Aspire is an all-in-one platform for various business financial services needs such as international transfers, corporate cards, debt management, receivables and cost management, which can be accessed through one easy-to-use account.

The company quickly gained popularity in Southeast Asia and recently saw an additional volume of annual transactions processed up to 3 times $12 billion from their more than 15,000 clients in Southeast Asia.

"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with leading investors to provide modern business in Southeast Asia in full control of their finances", Andrea Baronchelli, co-founder and CEO of Aspire, said in a statement, Monday, February 20.

"Our mission is to provide a financial platform to maximize the potential of every company in Southeast Asia, both for large and small companies. From reports of real-time company financial conditions, fast and transparent international transfer services, to comprehensive cost management to help businesses make strategic decisions", he added.

Aspire plans to use this funding to continue to complement its product services and improve its presence in Southeast Asia, of course with the team's expansion to continue to innovate in the financial technology industry.

"Aspire has emerged as a leading player in Southeast Asia's B2B fintech sector with end-to-end products, a strong track record of growth, and solid foundations", said Bejul Somaia, Partner at Lightspeed.

"We are very pleased to partner with this international standard team to support their vision for the future of financial services in Southeast Asia", he added.

The series' lead investor, Lightspeed, is a multi-stage investment firm focused on accelerating the development of disruptive and trending innovations in various sectors. Since 2000, Lightspeed has supported cutting-edge businesses and companies such as Snap, Hasura, OYO, Affirm, Razorpay, Grab, AppDynamics, Nutanix, Supabase, Byju's, and Udaan.

Lightspeed and its affiliates currently manage over USD 18 billion in investment funds overseas, with consultants in India, Silicon Valley, Israel, China, Southeast Asia and Europe.

Apart from Lightspeed, Sequoia SEA also led this fundraising. Sequoia helps innovative founders build legendary companies. From the idea stage - IPO to post-IPO. Sequoia Capital India and Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia continue to partner with founders from companies in different categories such as BYJUs, CRED, Druva, Five Star Finance, Freshworks, GoTo, Groww, Kopi Kenangan, Mamaearth, Pine Labs, Polygon, Razorpay, Truecaller, Zomato and many others.

Sequoia provides hands-on coaching to their startups with lessons learned from 50 years of experience working with companies such as Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn and Stripe from scratch. Since its inception, Sequoia's investor base has been involved in the world of universities, educational development, and other non-profit organizations.

Aspire is an all-in-one financial software for today's business. Aspire has served more than 15,000 startups and SMEs in Southeast Asia. Helping businesses save time and cost with multi-currency corporate accounts and cards, accounts payable management, accounts receivable and expense management - all in one account.

Headquartered in Singapore, Aspire has more than 400 employees spread across 4 countries and is supported by global VCs such as Sequoia, Lightspeed, and Y-Combinator.

With this fresh funding, Aspire can continue its growth and strengthen its position as a leading player in Southeast Asia's B2B fintech sector, a region with significant economic growth.

In 2023, Aspire plans to expand its team with quality talent, and continue to build the tech industry ecosystem in Southeast Asia while maintaining the financial soundness of its business model. (ADV)