Former Grab Execs Secure Funding for MSME Bookkeeping App Lista
by Fintech News Philippines November 11, 2021Lista, a bookkeeping app for MSMEs based in the Philippines, has raised an undisclosed sum from oversubscribed round from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, and other angel investors.
The angel investors include former Grab Philippines’ President and co-founder Brian Cu, Pinelabs’ CEO Amrish Rau, CRED’s Founder Kunal Shah, Jupiter Bank’s Chief Executive Officer Jitendra Gupta and Google APAC’s senior execs Aurelien Pichon, Alap Bharadwaj.
Lista said that it will use the funds to grow their team and expand their product offering to reach more MSMEs in the country.
Through its financial inclusion app, Lista offers Filipinos a free and secure way of managing finances such as tracking debts, recording transactions, and even issuing invoices.
Lista was founded by Aaron Villegas, an experienced entrepreneur with product experience, and Khriz Lim, a former Grab executive that led GrabFood’s expansion into the region.
Since its launch in September, Lista has helped collect close to US$1.5 million in receivables of MSMEs all over the Philippines.
Aaron Villegas
Aaron Villegas, Co-founder of Lista stated,
“Helping Philippine MSMEs was an advocacy close to my heart. Growing up, I saw the challenges my family endured in running a sari-sari store (community store).
I spent almost a year just talking to various MSMEs in the province and trying different ideas to help them grow. And that’s when I realized that the first thing to do to really help them grow is through digitization and replacing pen and paper with easy-to-use tech.”
Khriz Lim
Khriz Lim, former Grab executive and Co-founder of Lista stated,
“MSMEs are the backbone of the Philippine economy and it’s time we stop leaving them behind.
Through this app, we want to revolutionize the way MSMEs operate and provide them with a reliable digital partner for small businesses in the country.”
