Fintech Aspora raises $53 million to expand cross-border banking for global Indians | Bengaluru News
Bengaluru: Aspora, a London-headquartered fintech startup focused on providing banking services for immigrant communities, has raised $53 million co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with participation from Quantum Light Ventures. The company, which was previously known as Vance, is targeting the global Indian diaspora as its first major customer base.The latest round follows Aspora’s $35 million and a $5 million seed extension last year. Over the past six months, the company has raised a total of $93 million across multiple funding rounds. Founded by Parth Garg in 2022, who dropped out of Stanford University to start the venture, Aspora is building cross-border financial products for non-resident Indians (NRIs) and other diaspora segments.According to the company, it currently serves 250,000 users, with its primary user base in the UAE. Over the past six months, Aspora’s transaction volume has grown from $400 million to more than $2 billion, with users saving over $15 million in fees compared to traditional providers.Aspora offers zero-fee remittance transfers from the UAE and provides exchange rates identical to market benchmarks displayed on Google, while fees may apply in other markets. The company currently operates across the UK, EU, and UAE, and plans to launch in the United States in July 2025, followed by expansion into Canada, Australia, and Singapore by the end of the year.In addition to institutional investors, Aspora is backed by a group of individual investors that includes Balaji Srinivasan (former CTO, Coinbase), Sundeep Jain (former CPO, Uber), Prasanna Sankar (co-founder, Rippling), and Chad West (former global marketing head, Revolut).