Cross-border digital payments startup Aspora, a cross-border financial technology company formerly known as Vance, has raised $50 million in its Series B funding round led by Sequoia and Greylock.
Aspora (formerly called Vance) wants to create a complete financial experience for the Indian diaspora, with a focus on making things simple and convenient. While it plans to offer many financial services in the future, its main focus right now is on making remittances easier.
“While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said.
In the past year, the company has increased the amount of money it helps people send by 6 times — going from $400 million to $2 billion in total money transferred each year.
Thanks to its rapid growth, the company has caught the attention of many investors. In December, it quietly raised $35 million in Series A funding,
led by Sequoia, with support from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. At that time, the company was valued at $150 million. In just four months after that, it tripled its transaction volume, leading investors to invest even more.
Now, the company has announced a new $50 million Series B funding round, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with more backing from Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator. This latest round puts the company’s value at $500 million. In total, the startup has raised over $99 million so far.
After changing its focus from Pipe.com for India, the company started by helping NRIs in the U.K. send money home in 2023. Since then, it has expanded to other places like Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
It charges a simple flat fee for sending money and offers reasonable exchange rates. Now, customers can also invest in mutual funds in India through the platform. The company calls its exchange rates the “Google rate” because many people search for currency conversion rates on Google, even though these rates might not always be the exact live rates.
The startup is planning to launch in the U.S. next month, which is one of the biggest countries sending money to India. It also plans to start services in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the end of this year.
Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs.
“We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,”
“Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.”
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