Aspire
YC W18Singapore, SG · Founded 2018 · 500 employees · Hiring · 27 known investors
Find your way into Aspire
1,464 people in our graph share verified history with the Aspire team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Vinnie Lauriaunlockedknows Stefano Pellegrino · together at Mind The Gap (overlapped)
×2knows the team · via National University of Singapore
knows the team · via University of California, Berkeley - School of Law
knows the team · via Rocket Internet
×2knows the team · via Barclays
knows the team · via Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Aspire provides corporate account and card solutions for businesses with complex operations, offering relationship management and an online platform for employee spending oversight.
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W18)
AB
Andrea Baronchelliin𝕏Co-Founder & CEOPreviously, he held multiple roles at Lazada—including head of growth, operations, and product across several markets—before the company's acquisition by Alibaba Group.
GC
Giovanni Casinelliin𝕏Co-Founder & PresidentGiovanni Casinelli is co-founder and president of Aspire, a finance software platform for businesses.
GF
Giacomo FicariinCo-Founder & co-CEO2017–2018Lazada/Rocket Internet and Groupon veteran listed by Crunchbase and Preqin as a founder; later left after a personal exit and joined other ventures.
JL
Joel LeonginChief Strategy Officer & Co-FounderSingapore-born co-founder; earlier CMO and country head for Singapore, now CSO.
SA
SG Andrea BaronchelliFounder/CEO
SP
Stefano PellegrinoinCo-founder and Country Head (Vietnam) at Aspire2019–2023Founding-team country head for Vietnam; left in 2023 to found climate-tech company Aquila.
Investors · 27
Beacon VCBangkok · $500K – $3M
Crane Venture PartnersLondon · $750K – $3M
Hummingbird VenturesSingapore · $500K – $10M
Insignia Ventures PartnersSingapore · $50K – $131M
Lightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1.7M – $87M
PICUS CAPITALMunich · $100K – $300M
VentureSouqAbu Dhabi · $250K – $50M
Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K
AFG Partnersreported
Battery VenturesreportedBoston · $500K – $100M
Bessemer Venture PartnersreportedRedwood City · $5M – $100M
Fasanara CapitalreportedLondon
ICONIQ CapitalreportedSan Francisco · $5M – $100M
Index VenturesreportedSan Francisco · $540K – $10.8M
Mainsail PartnersreportedAustin · $10M – $75M
MassMutual VenturesreportedSpringfield · $500K – $5M
Sequoia CapitalreportedMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M
T. Rowe PricereportedBaltimore
Thoma BravoreportedChicago
Tiger Global ManagementreportedNew York · $1M – $100M
Also in the syndicate · 7
AFGB Capital PartnersCE Innovation FundDragoneerDST Global PartnersMass Mutual VenturesSequoia SEA
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$158M disclosed across 1 of 4 rounds · 2021–2023
- Undisclosed amountseries CFeb 2023Source ↗
- $158MSeries BSep 2021 · 2 sources
AFG, B Capital Partners, CE Innovation Fund, DST Global Partners, Fasanara Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, Mass Mutual Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Picus Capital
Source ↗ - Undisclosed amountSeries GJun 2021
Thoma Bravo (lead), Battery Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Dragoneer, ICONIQ Capital, Index Ventures, Mainsail Partners, Sequoia, T. Rowe Price, Tiger Global
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
Founder mafia
5 people who came through Aspire went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors · 10
by search overlap
Wise6862 shared keywordsWise is a financial platform offering international money transfers, multi-currency accounts, and debit cards with low fees and competitive exchange rates, serving millions of users globally.
Ramp3745 shared keywordsRamp offers a finance platform that combines corporate cards, expense management, and AI-driven automation for receipt capture, transaction coding, and reimbursements. It serves finance teams and businesses looking to consolidate spending tools and automate accounting workflows.
Corporatefinanceinstitute3522 shared keywordsCorporate Finance Institute offers an online specialization program teaching finance professionals how to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into financial analysis, valuation, and investment decision-making. The program covers ESG frameworks, sustainability integration, greenhouse gas accounting, and climate risk management across eight core courses.
Bill.com Holdings, Inc.3317 shared keywordsBILL is a unified financial operations platform that automates accounts payable, receivables, and spend management for businesses. The platform processes over $345 billion in annual payment volume and serves nearly 500,000 customers across the US and 130+ countries.
Remitly3111 shared keywordsRemitly is an international money transfer service that enables customers to send money across borders to multiple countries.
Stripe2676 shared keywordsStripe provides financial infrastructure for businesses to accept payments, offer financial services, and implement custom revenue models across international markets in 135+ currencies.
GoCardless2661 shared keywordsGoCardless provides bank payment collection and open banking data access services. The platform enables businesses to collect domestic and international payments via bank accounts and securely access customer bank account data across 2,300+ banks in the UK and Europe.
Intuit®2630 shared keywordsIntuit develops financial software products—including TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp—for consumers and small businesses to manage taxes, credit, accounting, and marketing. It serves approximately 100 million customers worldwide.
Tipalti2249 shared keywordsTipalti is an AI-powered finance automation platform that automates accounts payable, mass payments, procurement, and employee expenses for growing companies. The platform serves businesses seeking to streamline financial operations and reduce manual finance tasks.
Chase2240 shared keywordsA wealth management and investing service (J.P. Morgan Wealth Management via Chase) offering self-directed brokerage accounts with commission-free online trades as well as one-on-one advisor services, financial planning tools, and retirement accounts. It serves individual retail investors ranging from beginners to experienced investors in the United States.
Companies competing with Aspire for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Aspire do?
- Aspire provides corporate account and card solutions for businesses with complex operations, offering relationship management and an online platform for employee spending oversight.
- Who founded Aspire?
- Aspire was founded by Andrea Baronchelli, Giovanni Casinelli, Giacomo Ficari, Joel Leong, SG Andrea Baronchelli, Stefano Pellegrino in 2018.
- Who are Aspire's investors?
- Aspire's investors include Beacon VC, Crane Venture Partners, Hummingbird Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, PICUS CAPITAL, VentureSouq, Y Combinator and 12 more.
- How much funding has Aspire raised?
- Aspire has disclosed $158M raised across 1 of its 4 known rounds.
- Where is Aspire headquartered?
- Aspire is headquartered in Singapore, SG.