Lista raises $5.1 M to expand financial inclusion services

Lista, a fast-growing financial management platform for small business owners and individuals in the Philippines, has raised over $5.1 million in its most recent funding round. The funding round was led by Singapore-based Openspace Ventures, a leading regional venture capital firm, which was the early backer of GoTo (Gojek) and Kumu Philippines. Existing investors East Ventures, Saison Capital, and 1982 Ventures also participated in the round.

Additional new investors include Stephen CuUnjieng (former chairman and CEO of Evercore Asia), Aurelien Pichon (Google), Roland Ros (Kumu CEO) and Rexy Dorado (Kumu president). Earlier individual backers include Brian Cu (ex-president, Grab Philippines), Willy Arifin (Monde Nissin Family Ventures), Amrish Rau (Pinelabs CEO), Kunal Shah (CRED founder) and Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter Bank CEO).

“We are excited to add Lista to our growing roster of exciting investments across Southeast Asia and in particular the Philippines. We believe their vision and business model have the potential to be a transformative tool for Filipinos, especially as they continue to bounce back from the pandemic,” said Gervin Yang, executive director at Openspace.

With this fundraising round, Lista is planning to expand beyond business management tools and further develop products for personal finances. “About 30 percent of our user base are Filipinos who do not have any business but want to take charge of their personal finance. They monitor their salary, bills payment, and even savings using Lista. We think this is a category that holds a lot of growth potential for us,” said Khriz Lim, co-founder of Lista.

Launched in September 2021, Lista now has over one million downloads. Lista’s mission is to help Filipino merchants and individuals better manage, save and grow their finances through simple software that offers transparency and greater control.

Lista’s massive traction was attributed to ease of use and localized solutions that function without WiFi or data connection. Many merchants and individuals in the Philippines cannot access or consistently afford WiFi or data connection. Lista’s product and features began to attract individual users, referring to those who use the app for tracking their personal finances.