TravelersBox raises $10m series A to help tourists with their leftover foreign change

Israel-based TravelersBox, which provides a solution to the pesky foreign currency left in your pocket after a holiday or business trip, announced today that it has closed a US$10 million series A round led by Arbor Ventures. Existing investors including Pitango Venture Capital, IPE Ventures, Pereg Ventures, iAngels, and Global Blue also participated. The startup did not disclose post-money valuation figures.

Through the startup’s kiosks, travelers can deposit their leftover foreign currency and  redeem it for a multitude of things, such as Skype credit, Paypal, Nike gift cards, or charitable donations. In Israel, it’s also possible to process direct bank transfers. There’s no minimum amount necessary.

“There are more than 3 billion international travelers every year, and our mission is to provide an easy way for those travelers to regain the lost value of their unused foreign currency,” said Tomer Zussman, founder and CEO of TravelersBox, in an emailed statement.

TravelersBox kiosks are currently present in Italy, Canada, Turkey, Georgia, Israel, and the Philippines. There’s a range of currencies supported, including US dollar, Euro, British pound, Phillipines peso, Russian ruble, Turkish lira, and Georgian lari.

“What we did in 2015 was a lot of A/B tests,” Dror Blumenthal, chief marketing officer, tells Tech in Asia. “We are finding out about the market from our users. This year will be about applying this understanding and focusing on expansion, with Asia earmarked as a priority.”

TravelersBox is about to open kiosks in Japan, India, and Hong Kong, with Tokyo expected to be live by the end of February. All together the startup plans on deploying 200 new machines globally this year. “We’re pretty excited about 2016, it’s going to be crazy,” adds Dror.

See: This startup is solving the worst thing about the end of your holiday – pesky foreign currency