The round is Airwallex’s biggest raise to date.
Melbourne-based fintech startup Airwallex has raised US$160 million in its Series D round, the company announced in a statement today. The funds will be directed toward growth and expansion in global markets, and the development of Airwallex’s product line. The Series D brings the startup’s funding to over $360 million since its founding in 2015.
Jack Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Airwallex, said in the statement that with the global shift to digital tools, he expects a majority of businesses to leverage digital banking soon.
“Our vision has been to build a global financial infrastructure – by developing the Airwallex platform with fast and agile technology, continually improving our product and investing in dedicated support teams. More than ever, we are well-positioned to support businesses, no matter their size as they adapt to today’s changes,” he added in the statement.
New investors ANZi Ventures, ANZ Bank’s corporate venture capital arm, and Salesforce Ventures, global investment arm of Salesforce Inc., joined Airwallex’s existing backers DST Global, Tencent, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital, and Horizons Ventures to participate in the round.
“Being able to transact and do business with customers all over the world is a key criteria for companies who are going through a digital transformation. We’re excited to partner with Airwallex at this critical time in its growth, expanding both its footprint globally and its product capabilities,” Rob Keith, Head of Australia, Salesforce Ventures noted in the statement.
The fintech banking solutions startup’s key offering are low-cost international collections and payments, AUD, USD, EUR and GBP enterprise accounts and borderless cards for domestic and international businesses.
With international offices mostly in the Asia-Pacific region, it also caters to larger businesses through bulk domestic and international payouts.
Airwallex said in its statement that the fresh capital will be used for global customer acquisition and licensing, especially in Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East (a new market for the company).
It added that it also intends to develop payment acceptance gateway solutions and partner integrations, along with considering acquisitions in the payments space.
Previously, Airwallex closed its Series C in early 2019, after which it expanded to new overseas offices in Tokyo, Bengaluru and Dubai. It also launched Airwallex Borderless Cards in partnership with Visa and an integration with accounting software Xero, which are slated to become available to Hong Kong small and medium enterprises by 2020.
Another service that will be launching in Hong Kong this year is Airwallex’s Issuing API, which allows businesses to generate and issue payment cards to their networks.
Airwallex is currently moving towards becoming “a fully integrated end-to-end financial services provider,” the statement noted.
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