TL;DR: Southeast Asian digital payments platform, YouTrip, secures $50 million in Series B funding, with Lightspeed as the lead investor. The funding will drive technological advancements, expand the team, and facilitate market entry into new Southeast Asian regions. CEO Caecilia Chu expresses confidence in YouTrip’s potential to revolutionize cross-border commerce.
Singapore-based YouTrip, a leading digital payments platform in Southeast Asia, has successfully raised $50 million in its latest Series B funding round. This round is led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed.
The raised capital will be used to further bolster the company’s growth trajectory. This includes investments in advanced technologies to enhance product capabilities and expand its regional team by hiring over a hundred new talents. YouTrip aims to launch in new markets across Southeast Asia, focusing on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Caecilia Chu, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTrip, said, “YouTrip launched in 2018 with the bold vision to empower everyone with a smarter and more convenient way to pay in foreign currency. We achieved tremendous growth despite the pandemic, strengthening our position as the region’s leading digital payment solutions for consumers and businesses.”
“The latest funding round is YouTrip’s largest to date and is a testament to our strong potential in the B2B and B2C payment spaces. We are confident in our ability to catalyse the growth of cross-border commerce, bringing accessible, integrated and seamless digital payment services to millions of users across Southeast Asia and beyond,” she added.
Strong Growth in Consumer Multi-Currency Spending
YouTrip has experienced substantial growth in consumer multi-currency spending, particularly in Singapore and Thailand, with its user base tripling over the last two years. This surge is attributed to post-pandemic travel recovery and the continuous expansion of e-commerce in Southeast Asia.
The company’s corporate card and spend management platform for SMEs, YouBiz, has achieved significant milestones since its launch in May of the previous year. Within its inaugural year, YouBiz successfully onboarded over 3,000 enterprises, with ambitions to double this number by 2024.
Vote of Confidence from Lightspeed
Pinn Lawjindakul, Partner at Lightspeed, said, “My personal experience of the pain point reinforces my conviction in what the YouTrip team has built. Their multi-currency digital payments platform enables everyone to have a safer, smarter and superior experience with foreign currencies and digital payments. We are excited by their depth and vision, and look forward to partnering them in this next phase of growth and expansion.”
Expanding Services for Consumers and Businesses
As Southeast Asians seek greater convenience and personalization in financial services, YouTrip will deepen its investment in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. This will enable the expansion of hyper-personalized offerings, including features like smart budgeting and customized financial insights, in addition to other travel-related services.
Furthermore, YouTrip plans to broaden its range of services to support SMEs in their cross-border growth endeavors within the digital economy. This includes enhancing existing expense management capabilities and introducing new features such as credit lines to cater to the evolving needs of expanding businesses.
