Aspora raises $50 million to tap NRI market

Aspora, a startup building financial tools for non-resident Indians (NRIs), has raised $50 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, valuing it at $500 million.

The company started as Pipe.com’s India pivot, and first launched remittances for UK-based NRIs in 2023.

It now operates in Europe and the UAE, and charges a flat transfer fee with what it calls the “Google rate” for currency essentially mimicking what users see when they search FX rates online.

The startup says 80% of users send money to their own Indian accounts, not just to family, signalling that wealth creation, is driving NRI remittances.

Why it matters: Aspora is using remittances as a wedge to build an NRI-first financial platform.

The next step for the company is to launch in the US which is India’s biggest remittance corridor.

Zoom out: global players like Wise and Remitly, and Indian rivals like Abound, are in the mix. But Aspora’s verticalised approach, faster rollout, and diaspora-first thinking has investors like Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru backing it to win.