YouTrip, a Singapore-based online bank that focuses on making multi-currency transactions more cost-effective and efficient, revealed today that it has secured $30 million in a Series A round of funding. Caecilia Chu, the founder, and CEO of YouTrip said the round was headed by famous Asian family offices who choose to stay anonymous but are returning from previous investments.
YouTrip has already raised more than $60 million in total investment. According to the firm, it has processed over $800 million in card transactions worldwide, with around 20 million transactions and 1.5 million app downloads.
YouTrip opted to raise money because it’s at an “inflection moment,” according to Chu.
“As Southeast Asia recovers from the pandemic, and with Singapore leading the way in terms of vaccination rates, we’ve seen a significant pent-up demand for travel, as well as a resurgence in consumer confidence,” she added. “We’ve seen daily transaction volumes climb at least two to three times since the start of Singapore’s vaccinated travel lanes in terms of e-commerce, and we’ve seen daily transaction volumes grow at least two to three times since the start of Singapore’s vaccinated travel lanes in terms of travel.”
Even while YouTrip is enthusiastic about such tailwinds, the company is adopting a pragmatic approach to travel recovery. Chu stated that in the near term, the company is particularly enthused about consumer spending and its new B2B business, which includes the YouBiz multi-currency corporate card.
YouTrip also intends to focus on geographical development during the coming year. It is now functioning in Singapore and Thailand, with plans to extend to the Philippines and Malaysia through a Visa partnership. Chu also mentioned that the business is in final talks with partners to debut in Indonesia and Vietnam.
When TechCrunch last covered YouTrip in 2019, overseas passengers were one of the company’s main consumer bases. When COVID struck, the firm had to immediately adjust.
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It launched additional services such as YouTrip Perks and established relationship teams to work with merchants such as Lazada and Shopee on up to 15% cashback discounts. “People were not just buying a lot more stuff online during the epidemic, but they were also more health aware, so we observed a lot more purchases of athletic equipment and health supplements,” Chu added. “We’ve been focusing on finding the most relevant merchants for our users and forming agreements with them.”
YouTrip will be one of numerous Southeast Asian VC-backed fintech startups that issue corporate cards or focus on the SMB market after YouBiz is launched, including Aspire, Spenmo, and Volopay. However, Chu claims that the SMB market is not just large in comparison to the consumer market, but also offers “a big potential” because it is “heavily neglected.”
