Aspiration Partners to go public in $2.3bn SPAC deal
Los Angeles-based fintech Aspiration Partners is to become a publicly traded company. It claims it will be the first environmental, social and governance (ESG)-focused financial services institution to go this route.
The fintech’s backers include Orlando Bloom and Leonardo DiCaprio
The New York Stock Exchange listing will be through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) InterPrivate III Financial Partners (IPVF), in a transaction that values the eight-year-old Aspiration at $2.3 billion, more than double its last private-market valuation in May 2020.
The deal is expected to provide over $400 million in net cash proceeds to the company, including $258.75 million of cash held in IPVF’s trust and a $200 million fully committed common stock PIPE from a range of investors including Financière Agache (the Bernard Arnault family office) and Doha Venture Capital.
The merger is anticipated to close in the fourth quarter of 2021, after which Aspiration Partners will become a “Public Benefit Corporation” named Aspiration Inc.
Aspiration offers a range of sustainable banking services, credit cards, and investment products.
Customer deposits are guaranteed to be fossil fuel-free, trees are planted for every card purchase, and there is tracking of business and personal Planet & People impact scores to support shopping with a conscience. To date, its individual and business customers have funded the planting of over 35 million trees.
Aspiration’s technology and tools also provide bundled solutions that help businesses meet the demand for sustainability from their customers and employees by offsetting their carbon footprints and developing co-branded products and services that mitigate climate change.
Partners include software publisher Intuit and NEU Community. The latter is launching a community of sustainable homes near Austin, Texas in partnership with Aspiration.
Andrei Cherny, CEO and co-founder of Aspiration, says: “Most Americans want to do their part to fight the climate crisis but don’t know where to start and don’t know how to make a real difference – and this is where Aspiration comes in”.
Aspiration Partners claims more than five million members. The company had a revenue run rate in excess of $100 million as of June 2021 and claims over 7x growth in the past year.
