FinTech News
FinTech API Astra Raises $10 Million Series A
A startup that looks to make ACH transfers better for all involved has just closed a significant investment round. Recently, Astra announced that it had raised $10 million. The Series A was led by FPV Ventures, while Slow Ventures and Allegis Capital also participated. In addition to the equity round, the FinTech secured a $30 million line of credit through CoVenture.
With this line of credit included, Astra has now raised a total of $56.2 million to date. According to the company, these latest funds will help fuel its rapid expansion in the payments industry. Specifically, they plan to focus on engineering and compliance resources that will allow for faster payments between destinations.
Astra is a payment startup that helps move money between accounts. In addition to offering its own app where consumers can set up “routines” such as savings challenges or round-ups, the company has become more known for its API. As the FinTech explains, their service has been deployed into other apps and services to offer faster ACH settlement times as well as automation options.
Sharing more on the idea behind Astra, the company’s co-founder and CEO Gil Akos explained, “Time to money is one of the most vital metrics for FinTechs, financial institutions, and marketplaces. How quickly a user is able to complete the onboarding process, fund their account, and begin spending money are critical aspects that will likely impact a user’s activity level. Astra has earned a reputation for offering one of the simplest and most effective instant funding and payment automation solutions on the market to speed up these processes.”
Akos went on to mention how the latest investment round will impact it, stating, “With this new capital, we are excited to not only grow our portfolio of solutions but to bring faster money movement capabilities to a larger customer base.”
Elsewhere, FPV Ventures co-founder and managing director Pegah Ebrahimi said of the firm’s investment in Astra, “There’s a big shift in the market where profitable growth for FinTechs really matters. Astra is the case study for amazing, profitable growth that enables others to easily move money without having to build a large in-house payment infrastructure. That’s why we backed them and are excited to be on the journey with them.”
Astra may have started as a handy financial automation tool for customers but it’s now clear that the company is finding more success as a “behind-the-scenes” player akin to the likes of Plaid or Stripe. While this $10 million raise may not match the megarounds those firms have garnered, this is an impressive Series A that sets the company up for future success. With more FinTechs now relying on speedier ACH payments to retain users, Astra could well become a major star in that world.
