Ekko, a Vietnamese fintech impact company focused on reducing employee financial stress and turnover, has raised a $4.2 million seed round in a mix of equity and debt to expand its financial health platform for workers across Vietnam.
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The round was backed by Impact Square, Fondation Botnar, Sagana, and several Vietnamese high-net-worth individuals.
“With startup funding in Southeast Asia at its lowest level in nine years, we’re proud of this round,” said Mads Werner, co-founder and CEO of Ekko. “It reflects strong conviction from our investors in both the problem we’re solving and the way we’re solving it.”
Ekko’s is an earned wage access platform built around three core pillars designed to strengthen workers’ financial resilience: financial education, liquidity, and savings. These tools aim to help workers understand their finances, manage short-term needs, and gradually build buffers for the future.
By the end of 2025, Ekko had reached the milestone of supporting more than 100,000 employees across Vietnam.
“What matters most is helping people feel in control,” said Werner. “When employees understand their finances better, they make calmer decisions and plan further ahead.”
In addition to traditional earned wage access, Ekko offers a SaaS-based employer model that allows companies to opt in and cover the service fees, ensuring employees can access their earned pay at no cost.
Ekko is among the first companies in Southeast Asia to offer this employer-paid approach. Today, roughly half of Ekko’s revenue comes from this SaaS-based employer model, reflecting growing demand from companies investing in workforce stability and wellbeing.
“For many employers, financial wellbeing is now recognised as an important factor in employee performance and retention,” Werner added. “We’re seeing more companies take a more deliberate, long-term view of how pay and benefits affect people day to day.”
With this funding, Ekko will expand across Vietnam, onboard new employer partners, and continue strengthening its platform to serve workers in manufacturing, retail, logistics, and services.
In 2025, Ekko’s team delivered more than 120 hours of financial education workshops across factories nationally.
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