How HipVan Scaled Rapidly As SEA’s Top Furniture Retailer, Powered By Aspire's Finance Stack
June 3, 2026
Saved per year
Saved per year
Before Aspire
Time-consuming to manage growing e-commerce expenses as HipVan scales rapidly
Lack of perks despite frequent bulk payments to e-commerce suppliers
Low visibility and blind spending with lack of finance automation
After Aspire
Earned $11,000 in annual cashback: reinvested cashback earned through Aspire Card payments to pay overseas suppliers in China.
Saved 550 hours annually: Automated workflows and real-time spend tracking reduced manual tasks and paperwork.
Gained real-time spend visibility: Utilized Aspire's platform for instant tracking and budget insights, eliminating paperwork.
| Company | Founded | Company size | Founder |
|---|---|---|---|
| HipVan | 2013 | 11-50 | Danny Tan, Shobhit Datta, Deborah Wee |
| Industry | Case study focus | Country | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Merchants | Expense Management | Singapore | https://www.hipvan.com/ |
The Company: E-commerce Furniture Platform With An Edge
Founded in 2013, HipVan is a cutting-edge e-commerce furniture platform that provides consumers in Singapore and beyond with curated products that range from sofas & dining sets to lifestyle offerings. They work directly with suppliers and designers to provide well-designed products at competitive prices with up to 70% off retail prices.
The Challenges: Big Goals Hampered By Growing Pains
#1 Unable to make quick purchasing decisions
When purchasing furnishing products from suppliers, the procurement team used to make payments using bank transfers. The process was long and time consuming:
- Generate a purchase order
- Get approvals from management
- Release payments
The whole process took anywhere between 7-14 days to complete. Consequently, the HipVan supply team missed out on flash deals offered by suppliers. Quick payments also assure suppliers, and help build trust over a period of time. In the pre-existing framework, this trust building took a back seat.
HipVan’s in-house delivery team
“Traditional banking is not too startup and SME-friendly. Aspire really came in and filled that niche. I think the user experience is good and products are tailored to the reality of startups/SMEs based on what they need. Traditional banking is more suited for bigger companies with a lot more hoops to jump through. Aspire is more straightforward to use. We’re happy that there are such options now for startups and SMEs in the region.”
Shobhit Datta
Co-founder of HipVan
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