Airwallex claims unicorn status with $100m funding

Hong Kong-based Airwallex has raised US$100 million in fresh funding, valuing it at over US$1 billion and propelling it into the tech unicorn club.

DST Global led the series C round, with participation from several of Airwallex’s existing investors including Gobi Partners, Hillhouse Capital, Horizons Ventures, Sequoia China, Square Peg Capital, and Tencent.

Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO, Airwallex / Photo credit: Airwallex

The fintech startup, founded and based in Melbourne before relocating its global headquarters to Hong Kong last year, helps banks and businesses to perform cross-border transfers at low cost and high speed relative to traditional options. It also offers foreign currency exchange services and an integrated payments suite for online retailers.

Customers can set up a “global bank account” with Airwallex using their local bank details, allowing them to access competitive interbank rates.

The startup counts Chinese tech giants Ctrip and JD among its clients, as well as its investors Mastercard and Tencent.

See: How he’s fixing cross-border payments with $80m from Tencent and Sequoia

In a statement, it indicated that the series C funds will be used for market expansion and product development “with an emphasis on delivering further value to marketplaces, online sellers, and small and medium-sized enterprises.”

“Airwallex aspires to become the operating system of global banking,” the statement said.

Last December, the startup was granted an electronic money institution license by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, enabling it to provide services throughout the European Union. It holds an Australian financial services license and is registered as a money service business in Canada.

It has also applied for Hong Kong’s new virtual banking license in partnership with local financial services giant Bank of East Asia and Sequoia Capital.

This latest round brings Airwallex’s total funding to date to US$202 million, the company said. It raised US$22 million across its May 2017 series A round and earlier capital injections from Mastercard, Sequoia, and Tencent. A Tencent and Sequoia-led series B round in July 2018 hauled in US$80 million.