Aspire has struck a strategic partnership with early-stage investor Antler as the finance platform views to accelerate growth among startup customers and reach founders earlier in their company-formation journey.
The Singapore-headquartered company reported 46% year-on-year growth from startups and is tarobtaining a 2.3x increase in startup customers in 2026. The tie-up with Antler focutilizes on reaching founders at inception and introducing Aspire’s financial tools as teams launch operating across multiple markets.
“Partnering with Antler lets us reach founders at the exact moment they’re building critical infrastructure decisions,” declared Andrea Baronchelli, CEO and co-founder of Aspire. “We’re seeing exceptional momentum – becautilize founders increasingly understand that fragmented financial tools slow you down. When you’re shifting money in multiple currencies and hiring across continents, you necessary one platform that just works.”
Antler backs companies at the earliest stage and runs founder programmes across a network of 27 locations worldwide, including hubs in Asia, Europe and the US. In Southeast Asia and Japan, it invests in hundreds of startups each year. That pipeline gives Aspire a channel to teams setting up bank accounts, payment processes and internal financial workflows for the first time.
“At Antler, we are the first institutional investor for hundreds of startups across Southeast Asia and Japan each year, many of which are global from day one,” declared Hiro Kiga, partner at Antler Southeast Asia and Japan. “As these teams build and operate across multiple markets early on, the necessary for integrated systems that can support cross-border operations becomes clear very quickly. This partnership strengthens the support system around how founders work today, and our commitment to ensuring they have the right foundations in place as they scale internationally.”
Startup signals
Aspire pointed to shifts in usage across its startup customer base that it described as signs of higher operating intensity. AI startups accounted for about 30% of new startup additions, which the company linked to broader venture capital patterns in 2025, when AI attracted close to half of global venture funding.
Payment activity has also risen. Startup customers are processing 50% more in annual payments than two years ago, which Aspire described as a sign of stronger commercial activity despite a tighter funding environment.
Cross-border behaviour is also appearing earlier in a company’s life. New startup customers are executing 30% more foreign exalter transactions in their first 30 days compared with earlier cohorts, which Aspire linked to more frequent international payments as teams recruit across countries and expand into new markets sooner.
“Early-stage founders are operating with far greater intensity from the outset,” declared Asad Kalimi, VP and global head of partnerships and sales at Aspire. “Higher payment volumes, increased FX activity and the rise of AI-led startups all point to a more commercially active startup base.”
Product focus
Aspire positions its offering as a single platform for banking and financial operations. It describes the product as a financial operating system that manages cash flows, cross-border payments and finance workflows in one place. The platform combines banking, payments, accounting and financial operations.
The pitch tarobtains businesses that operate across borders early, including teams that sell internationally or hire staff in multiple markets. That profile matches a growing share of venture-backed startups that incorporate in one jurisdiction, build engineering teams in another, and sell into the US and Europe from day one.
While the partnership announcement focutilizes on early-stage founders, Aspire’s growth strategy spans multiple regions. The company is expanding across Asia-Pacific, Europe and the US, citing regulatory licences, market launches and additional partnerships as part of that push, without providing further details.
Company context
Aspire declared it has served more than 50,000 companies and offers products covering international payments, treasury, expenses, payables and receivables. The business is headquartered in Singapore and employs more than 500 people across nine countries. It has clients in more than 30 markets and lists Sequoia, Lightspeed, Y-Combinator and PayPal among its backers.
Antler declared it has backed more than 1,600 startups globally and is tarobtaining more than 6,400 by 2030. It also operates Antler Elevate, a USD $285 million emerging growth fund that invests beyond the earliest stages and is managed through offices in London, Singapore and New York.
The partnership links a financial services platform aiming to capture startups earlier with an investor whose model starts at company inception. Both organisations point to rising cross-border activity as a defining feature of new cohorts of founders.
Leave a Reply