The latest investment app in Southeast Asia to raise follow-on funding is called Endowus. The firm majority-owned by Naspers is Prosus. The Japanese tech conglomerate Z is owned by SoftBank Corp.
Lightspeed Venture Partners, Singtel Innov8 and UBS are returning investors.
Lightspeed Venture Partners and SoftBank Ventures Asia led the $23 million Series A of Endowus. The new round brings the total funding for the company to over $60 million and puts it in the company of other apps that have quickly raised follow-on funding as appetite for retail investing grows in several Southeast Asian markets. Pintu, Syfe, and Ajaib are all based in Indonesia.
The Series D was led by Sequoia Capital India.
The co-founder and CEO of the company said that they raised again because they were approached by investors who wanted to help more people reach their financial goals. We believe we have found a strong product-market fit in Singapore, with assets growing by over $1 billion SGD in 2021. Van said the new round is between Series A and B for us.
We are a bit off the standard cycle since we were 100% employee owned and incubated until our first external fundraise earlier this year.
Less than two years after launching full service, the company says it has over a billion dollars in total assets under advice. Gregory Van, the co-founder and CEO of the company, said that the only digital advisor in Singapore where users can manage both private cash and pension savings and get advice from financial experts is what is different about the company. Van says that it is one of the key wealth pillars for Singaporeans with up to 37% mandatory contribution rates, and that it is the only robo-advisor that can advise and help people invest in their national pension savings.
The new funding will be used to hire for geographical expansion and product development. The company recently surpassed 100 employees and will double that in the next year.
We don't think it's the right strategy to cut back on some costs. Van said that they want more people to use the app to reach their financial goals. We will continue to pursue accelerated growth, with profitability to follow as the company scales rapidly.
Users can save up to 50% on their annual investment costs with the help of over 150 best-in-class funds on the platform.
The Series A extension led by Ribbit Capital has a total of $90M.
