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In focus
- Aspire banks on startup growth to target 2027 breakeven
- Making sense of Grab’s latest acquisition
- External audit on Ayoconnect concludes after six months
Hello reader,
Last week, the CEO of a US-based VC firm told me that Southeast Asia needs more founder-led funds because it’s different when you have VCs who have been operators themselves.
The idea is that having experienced the pain points of running a company themselves, entrepreneurs are now in a better position to devise the solutions needed.
Aspire CEO and co-founder Andrea Baronchelli reaffirmed this in our recent interview, stressing that this is exactly his company’s edge.
While other financial institutions crowd into what they see as a fast-growing SME market, Aspire is betting on a more targeted pitch.
For instance, Baronchelli shares that after navigating the hurdles of trying to earn higher returns on the firm’s bank balances, the company built Aspire Yield to address that gap. The product allows businesses to earn returns on their idle funds in Singapore dollars or US dollars, which they can easily cash out.
Today’s featured story dives into the company’s target to break even by 2027 and how betting on startups and mid-sized companies could get it there.
In other news, Grab yesterday announced an acquisition of Stash Financial, a New York-based investing firm serving predominantly US customers, for US$425 million. While both firms have apparent synergies given
Grab’s growing financial services business, it’s a curious move nonetheless and could signal where Grab’s ambitions lie beyond the region.
We unpack that more in this issue.
Melissa Goh, senior editor
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Aspire targets 2027 breakeven, taps Antler for startup push
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