Airwallex raises another $100m, valuation holds steady
Hong Kong-based Airwallex, a cross-border payments provider turned broader financial technology platform, has raised USD 100m in a second extension to its Series E round at a valuation of USD 5.5bn. It comes 11 months after the company secured the same amount at the same valuation in the first extension.
Several existing backers re-upped, including Square Peg Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Lone Pine Capital, Hermitage Capital, 1835i Ventures – the VC unit of Australia’s ANZ – and Tencent Holdings. Australian superannuation fund Hostplus and an unnamed North American pension fund came in as new investors.
Lone Pine led the USD 200m Series E in September 2021 and the first extension, supported by the likes of G Squared, Vetamer Capital Management, 1835i, DST Global, Salesforce Ventures, and Sequoia. The Series D closed on USD 300m in March 2021. Airwallex’s valuation rose from USD 2.6bn to USD 4bn across those two rounds. The company has raised USD 900m to date.
“The market environment remains challenging in the foreseeable future, and while we remain well capitalised, this additional runway allows us to continue our growth plans, product expansion, and hire some of the best talents in the world,” said Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, in a statement. He added that the valuation underscores investor confidence in the business.
The proceeds will support the company’s global expansion drive. In 2021, Airwallex extended its reach across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific through successful incursions into China, the US, and the UK. As of the second quarter of 2022, its customer base had more than doubled and revenue had risen 184% year-on-year.
Objectives for 2022-2023 include improving the expense management and credit offerings while continuing geographic expansion and augmenting the team.
Zhang (pictured, second left) established Airwallex in Australia in 2015 with fellow students Max Li (right), Lucy Liu (third left), and Xijing Dai (left). The idea was initially to solve pain points around cross-border money transfers they experienced as individuals. The company has since moved from payments to the financial cloud, with a product portfolio encompassing bank accounts, cards, expense management, and rewards programmes.
Speaking to AVCJ last year, Zhang said he wanted to create a single platform to empower modern businesses – a financial infrastructure provider in the same way that Google Cloud is a technology infrastructure provider. “Essentially, we are a technology company, not a financial services company, although we do financial services,” he said.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.