Digital & Technology

Neat raises USD11 million to fuel International Expansion

Neat, a Hong Kong-based FinTech company, has announced that it has raised USD 11 million in a Series A funding round, led by Pacific Century Group, with participation from Visa and MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia.

With the investment, Neat plans to continue its international expansion to support businesses that trade across borders, according to a press release by the FinTech.

Neat's vision is to enable the entrepreneur economy, starting with multi-currency business accounts that can be opened online with a 15-minutes application, corporate expense cards, and the ability to send and receive money globally.

Additionally, Neat and Visa have entered into a strategic partnership, and in the next few months Neat will begin issuing Visa credit cards aimed at cross-border SMEs.

David Rosa, CEO and Co-Founder, Neat, said “Our goal is to offer a truly global solution for businesses that trade across borders, regardless of their size or how long they've been in the market. Corporate credit cards, for example, can be incredibly difficult for young businesses to get. We're excited to partner with Visa, one of the leaders in digital payments, to offer a product that hasn't always been accessible to young SMEs.”

In the long run, Neat aims to make international trade nearly frictionless by not only offering a way for customers to move money, but also making use of a wide ecosystem of tools that automates their business processes (payroll, accounting, logistics, etc.), to ultimately enable anyone to run an international business with ease.

With a global count of 500M+ start-ups and other SMEs, funds from this round will be used to further Neat's international expansion.

In accordance with this goal, Neat has noted that after opening an office in Shenzhen in 2019 targeting Chinese exporters, Neat has just opened a new office in London and is set to kick off local operations in Western Europe to also serve the other side of the market: European entrepreneurs trading with China.

Neat will also further invest into its customer support with the aim of delighting its customers around the clock, and will continue to develop its customer acquisition channels across Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, on top of their current licenses, Neat will be pursuing relevant regulatory licences around the world to fuel their business growth.

Ryan Collins, Managing Director, MassMutual Ventures, said “We're proud to support Neat in the company's vision to support entrepreneurs. There is a clear demand for better financial products for SMEs, especially when it comes to cross-border payments and trade, and we're confident that Neat's passionate and innovative team will deliver.”

"We believe in making frictionless cross-border trade a reality for ambitious businesses around the world. This capital injection is going to power our growth in enabling young SMEs to operate smoothly between Europe and Asia. The success of this round has been a clear endorsement that we're headed in the right direction,” added Rosa.