YouTrip bags $30m in series A round to fund neobank ambitions

Singapore-headquartered YouTrip has bagged US$30 million in a series A round to fund its broadening neobank ambitions.

The injection, YouTrip’s first since its pre-series A round in 2019, was an all-cash round and drew returning investors, including ”major Asian family offices” and “prominent fintech investors.” It brings YouTrip’s total funding to over US$60 million to date.

YouTrip card and app / Photo credit: YouTrip

Since its founding in 2018, YouTrip has touted itself as a travel e-wallet operator offering preferential exchange rates. But come the first quarter of 2022, the startup will roll out YouBiz, a multicurrency credit card targeting small and medium-sized businesses. Compared to its existing consumer offering, these cards come with higher spending limits and credit terms that will be offered to select business account users.

“As companies increasingly operate in a distributed and borderless manner, their cross-border payment needs are expected to increase,” YouTrip co-founder Arthur Mak said in a statement. According to the company, registration for interest in the product’s beta launch has received more than 1,000 sign-ups to date.

After its launch in Singapore, YouTrip plans to expand YouBiz to five other Southeast Asian countries in the next 12 months. The company also intends to introduce a virtual card and increase the number of currencies on offer in its consumer card by early next year.

YouTrip will be entering what is a crowded though growing space: Fintech firms such as Revolut, Wise, and Instarem presently already offer card-issuing services to enterprises, as well as cash management and multicurrency payments at competitive rates.

In September, the firm said it would double its workforce in Singapore with over 50 new engineering and product hires by 2022. Since then, the company revealed that it has made close to 30 new hires in the country. It also relocated its headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore.

See also: YouTrip cuts a third of HK workforce, faced staff departures in SG

While YouTrip was hit by a sharp decline in travel-related spends due to the Covid-19 pandemic, its transaction volumes have rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. This was buoyed by an increase in ecommerce activity, a gradual return of travel, and the rollout of its rewards platform YouTrip Perks, the company said.

YouTrip, which also operates in Thailand, has processed over US$800 million in card spends globally, with almost 20 million transactions and over 1.5 million app downloads.