Aspiration Aims To Go Public Before Year-End Via SPAC Merger

Green FinTech company Aspiration Partners Inc. on Wednesday (Aug. 18) announced a planned special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with InterPrivate III Financial Partners Inc., targeting a year-end listing date.

With the deal, Aspiration would go public under the ticker symbol “ASP” and the new name Aspiration Inc. The company is poised to be the first listed ESG-focused financial service provider and already has over five million customers.

Aspiration features a suite of sustainable banking services, credit cards and investment products that help customers keep their deposits out of fossil fuels, plant trees with every card purchase and track business and personal Planet & People impact scores.

Aspiration works to offset carbon footprints and curb climate change for its more than five million members, who have funded the restoration of more than 35 million trees.

“Aspiration is in the business of fighting the climate crisis,” Andrei Cherny, CEO and co-founder of Aspiration, said in an announcement about the deal. “We help people and businesses build sustainable impact into what they do every day by making it easy, automated and powerful, whether it is in the ways people spend and save their money or the ways businesses engage their customers.”

Cherny told PYMNTS that he is looking to clear regulatory hurdles and have the listing take place by the end of the year.

Cherny will remain the CEO of the combined company, while co-founder and board member Joe Sanberg will continue to serve on the Board.

Related: FinTech Startup Aspiration Considers $2B+ SPAC

Aspiration, founded in 2013, features a fee-free network of more than 55,000 ATMs and offers customers who sign up for direct deposits access to their paychecks two days early.

The company is also raising the minimum wage for its employees to $25 per hour.

Aspiration in 2019 partnered with numerous brands to give customers 3 to 5 percent back on purchases from socially conscious brands. Its backers include actors Orlando Bloom, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr.