Singapore-based online business banking platform Aspire received $158m yesterday in a series B round on Monday featuring insurance provider Massachusetts Mutual Life’s corporate venturing unit, MassMutual Ventures.
The round was led by an undisclosed global growth equity firm and filled out by DST Global, CE Innovation Fund, B Capital Partners, Fasanara Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Picus Capital and AFG Venture Group.
A number of private investors including Moses Lo, Perpaolo Barbieri, Taavet Hinrikus, Alexandre Prot, Steve Anavi, Gerry Colyer and Hendra Kwik also participated.
Aspire’s operated an app-based platform which enables small and medium-sized businesses to open business banking accounts. Proceeds from the round will be used for further growth in its existing markets.
Massachusetts Mutual also took part in Aspire’s $32.5m series A round in August 2019, through its MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia vehicle, joining Hummingbird Ventures, Picus Capital and Y Combinator.
Banking group Kasikornbank’s corporate venturing arm Beacon Venture Capital was later revealed as a series A investor.
Andrea Baronchelli, co-founder and chief executive of Aspire, said: “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.”
