TransferWise, a London, UK-based International money transfer startup, raised $58m in Series C funding.
The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from existing investors Sir Richard Branson, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Index Ventures, IA Ventures, and Seedcamp. In conjunction with the funding, Ben Horowitz joined TransferWise’s board.
The company, which has raised $91m to date, will use these funds for global expansion. It opens its US office next month and will be opening offices in Germany and in Australia in the next few months. It plans to open 300 further currency routes in the next year.
Launched in 2011 by Taavet Hinrikus (read our recent interview here) and Kristo Käärmann, TransferWise uses technology to remove all the fees the foreign exchange industry has kept hidden for decades and provides a bank’s alternative for people to transfer money abroad at a lower cost. It supports currency transfers between euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Polish zloty, Turkish lira, Romania leu, Bulgarian lev, Georgian lari, Hungarian forint, Danish, Swedish, Czech, Norwegian krone, Canadian and US dollar. The service, fully regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), also supports transfers from these currencies to Indian rupee, Malaysian ringgit, Philippine peso, Singaporean, Hong Kong, Australian and New Zealand dollar. Transfers from these currencies and many others are coming soon.
In addition to the funding, the company appointed two regional managers: Joe Cross in the US and Moritz Kork in Germany.
FinSMEs
26/01/2015