Lista is a bookkeeping app for MSMEs based in the Philippines. Through its financial inclusion app, they offer Filipinos a free and secure way of managing finances such as tracking debts, recording transactions, and even issuing invoices.
Lista raised an oversubscribed round from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures, Saison Capital, Alternate Ventures, Monde Nissin Family Ventures’ Willy Arifin and prominent angel investors such as former Grab Philippines President and co-founder Brian Cu, Pinelabs CEO Amrish Rau, CRED Founder Kunal Shah, Jupiter Bank Chief Executive Officer Jitendra Gupta and Google APAC Senior Execs Aurelien Pichon, Alap Bharadwaj.
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, 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).” Continuing, “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.”
As the pandemic struck early last year, digitization of business processes proved to be pivotal in ensuring the continuity of business operations. Micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs were among the most affected during the prolonged quarantines – 74% of these businesses halted operations due to the lockdowns according to the country’s Department of Trade and Industry. MSMEs are vital to the Philippine economy as they comprise about 99.51% of business establishments in the country and employ around 63% of the country’s workforce, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
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.”
Using digital tools can help fill this gap and allow them to record transactions and track their growth more easily. Lista aims to help MSMEs, including freelancers, logistics operators and riders, and other small businesses, digitize their business and provide a free and secure way of easily managing their finances.
Herston Elton Powers, Managing Partner of 1982 Ventures stated, “Lista is empowering millions of MSME businesses in the Philippines move from pen and paper to digital. The bookkeeping app space in the Philippines is wide open and Aaron and Khriz are the right founders to capture the opportunity. Lista’s product and strong traction have put them in pole position to win the market.”
Lista will use the funds to grow their team and expand their product offering to reach more MSMEs in the country.
About Lista
Lista is a bookkeeping app for small businesses, enabling them to digitize their business and provide a free and secure way of easily managing their finances. For more information visit: https://www.lista.com.ph.
About 1982 Ventures
1982 Ventures is the leading seed fund investing in fintech startups in Southeast Asia. Our focus makes us the first port of call for fintech founders and the first money in. Our investments include Southeast Asian Open Banking API Platform Brick, Vietnam’s leading Buy Now, Pay Later Fundiin, Vietnam’s Rent-to-Own Home Financing app Homebase (YC W21), Indonesia’s first Earned Wage Access platform Wagely. 1982 Ventures is investing in and supporting the best founders to positively impact the future of financial services in Southeast Asia. Visit https://1982.vc, or follow us on LinkedIn.
For media enquiries:
khriz@lista.com.ph
1982 Ventures Portfolio:
— Bluesheets seamlessly connects and automates all your financial data in one place. (Singapore)
— Brick is a financial API platform that allows startups and financial institutions to build innovative solutions with a single line of code. (Indonesia)
— Fundiin is a buy now pay later that offers customer friendly instalment payments at the point of sale and allows merchants to expand their customer base. (Vietnam)
— Go Zayaan is an online travel agency (OTA) focused on digital booking of flights, hotels, tours and other transportation. (Bangladesh)
— Homebase (YC W21) is Vietnam based real estate technology company that provides innovative home ownership and financing solutions across Southeast Asia. (Vietnam)
— Hugo is Singapore’s first Wealthcare app that helps users develop healthy saving and investing habits that make financial security accessible to everyone. (Singapore)
— Infina is an investing platform that allows Vietnamese to buy + sell stocks, ETFs and mutual funds. (Vietnam)
— NextPay (YC W21) is a SME digital bank in The Philippines. They use us to send invoices, collect payments, do payroll, and pay their bills. (Philippines)
— PINA is a personal finance app which helps people to manage and grow their money by providing automated money management and investing solutions in a single app. (Indonesia)
— Wagely is a platform that provides financial wellness and earned wage access to millions of low and middle-income workers. (Indonesia)