Founded in 2018, Aspire is backed by venture capital (VC) firms such as Sequoia, Lightspeed, Y-Combinator, Tencent and Paypal. In its Series C round of funding in 2023, Aspire raised over US$100 million ($133.4 million), doubling its valuation and achieving profitability just three months after.
Aspire’s clients include AirAsia, Love Bonito, Endowus, Pizza Hut and Tech in Asia.
This announcement comes following Aspire’s acquisition of a money service operator licence in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Andrea Baronchelli, CEO of Aspire, said securing the in-principle approval for the MPI licence from the central bank represented a "significant validation" of Aspire's commitment to "building a robust and secure financial ecosystem for businesses across Asia and beyond".
