Mastercard-backed fintech Airwallex raises $160 million in new capital

Airwallex has raised $160 million in a Series D fundraising round to expand global payment offerings for small businesses and enterprises.

The Mastercard-backed Australian fintech, which helps banks and businesses send cross-border payments in 23 currencies across 130 countries at scale, reaped large investments from several notable companies including previous investors such as Tencent, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital, DST Capital and Horizons Ventures. New investors in this round included Salesforce Ventures and the venture arm of ANZ Banking Group, ANZi Ventures. The funds will be used to expand in Europe, the U.S. and the Middle East as well as expand products and consider potential acquisitions.

“The global shift to digital is imminent," said Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, in a press release. "We envision a world in the not-too-distant future where all businesses will operate and conduct their affairs online — including banking — with the help of modern tools. The commitment and confidence from both new and existing investors in this round is a strong validation of our successes and our strategic vision."

Tencent Holdings, owner of messaging app WeChat and digital wallet WeChat Pay, led Airwallex’s two-part Series A round (May and December 2017), which raised $13 million and $6 million, respectively. Both sets of fundraisers included Mastercard, Sequoia Capital and Gobi Partners as investors.

Not only is Mastercard an investor in Airwallex, but it also uses the company’s infrastructure to power its push payment product, Send.

Airwallex currently offers an API that embeds in the business' existing payment systems and assesses a transaction fee based on API usage. Part of the new investment will be used to expand its payments acceptance capabilities through a proprietary gateway solution as well as partner integration.

In February, Airwallex partnered with Visa to launch the Airwallex Borderless Card for businesses. The card debuted in Australia and is expected to become available in the U.K. and Hong Kong later in 2020.

According to Crunchbase, a website that tracks investments in private firms, Airwallex has raised over $202 million in six funding rounds since 2016.