Hong Kong fintech player YouTrip gets $25.5m

A number of Asian family offices also contributed to the round. It is described as the largest-ever pre-Series A for a Hong Kong-founded start-up.

YouTrip is a multi-currency mobile wallet developed as a partnership between Mastercard and Singapore's largest public transport card issuer EZ-Link. It allows users to pay in more than 150 currencies with no hidden fees and at wholesale exchange rates. The app works with a linked pre-paid Mastercard and automatically converts currencies in real-time.

"The fintech space in Southeast Asia is developing at a relentless pace to meet evolving consumer expectations and the travel industry represents an immense untapped market at the intersection of this growth," Pachara Lawjindakul, a principal at Insignia, said in a statement. "The success of [YouTrip's] initial launch in Singapore provides a great foundation to develop a strong roadmap for growing the multi-currency and cross-border payments ecosystem in Southeast Asia."

YouTrip claims to have realized more than 200,000 downloads and processed one million transactions since its launch in August last year. The company plans to invest in growing its 70-strong team and developing its technology infrastructure in Hong Kong. The idea is to roll out new product features that offer localized services for travelers and consolidate the company's footprint in Singapore before pursuing expansion efforts around the region.

Southeast Asia is recognized as one of the fastest-growing travel markets globally. Outbound travel expenditure in the region is set to grow from $67 million in 2018 to $80 billion in 2020, according to YouTrip. Start-up investment strategies in this space have revealed a preference for small, agile operators. The idea is to overcome the cultural and political fragmentation of Southeast Asia by building locally-geared businesses that can become takeover targets for global giants.  

Singapore-based Insignia was founded in 2017 by former Sequoia Capital India venture partner Yinglan Tan with a focus on early-stage technology in Southeast Asia. The firm closed its debut fund in February last year at $120 million.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Financials
• Early-stage
• Hong Kong (China)
• Singapore
• seed
• Financial Services