Fintech unicorn Airwallex raises US$200 million capital in US expansion plan to compete with Stripe
- Airwallex on track to make US$100 million gross profit by next year, company says
- The US$1.8 billion payments company to use Series D fundraising to roll out payments platform in the US early next year
Fintech unicorn Airwallex has raised US$200 million to finance the roll-out of its payments platform across the United States early next year, a move that could see it clash with San Francisco-headquartered giant Stripe.
Investors such as venture capitalists Square Peg and Skip Capital, the investment firm of Kim Jackson and Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, crowded into the fundraising once it became clear that Airwallex was growing revenues through the coronavirus pandemic.
Stripe is still holding its cards close on the timing of its IPO, but was last valued in a private fundraising round at about US$36 billion.
“Businesses are now racing to embrace digital transformation at an unprecedented rate. We are more certain than ever that the digital economy is going to be the centre of the world’s economic structure,” Jack Zhang, chief executive officer and co-founder of the start-up, which is based in Hong Kong and Melbourne.
