WEALTH management platform StashAway will offer to buy back up to S$4 million in its employee stock options, with the startup set to close a US$25 million Series D funding round in the next few months.

The Series D round will be led by venture firm Sequoia Capital India, StashAway announced on Monday. Existing investors Eight Roads Ventures, which is backed by Fidelity International, and Australian venture firm Square Peg are also joining the fundraise.

The transaction is pending regulatory approval and will close in the next few months, StashAway said. With the fresh capital, StashAway will have a total paid-up capital of S$84.04 million.

Nino Ulsamer, co-founder and chief technology officer of StashAway, said that the S$4 million buyback will attract talent and "shows that startups can succeed and be extremely financially rewarding".

"We want all of our team members to participate in the financial benefits of building a successful company, and our promise to all team members has always been an attractive compensation package that includes a significant amount of stock options in the company," he said.

Beyond the liquidity for employees, StashAway also plans to expand its engineering team both in Singapore and abroad. The startup's foreign markets include Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. 

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

Chief executive and co-founder Michele Ferrario said that the fundraise is a "vote of confidence" on the company's strategy. In January, StashAway said that it has crossed US$1 billion in assets under management.

Abheek Anand, managing director of Sequoia India, will be joining StashAway's board, pending regulatory approvals. He said that the company "has built trust with its client base by navigating them through market volatility while providing strong returns".

StashAway said that its annualised returns range from 15.9 per cent for its highest-risk portfolio, to 3.5 per cent for its lowest-risk portfolio in Singapore dollar terms as at the end of March 2021.