Airwallex secures $300 million to drive global expansion, AI-powered finance, and IPO ambitions

Airwallex Secures $300 Million to Advance IPO Plans and AI-Driven Finance

Airwallex recently closed a $300 million Series F funding round, lifting its valuation to $6.2 billion. The fintech company, recognized for its global cross-border payments platform, is focusing on measured growth amid a cautious investment climate. Investors in this round include Square Peg, DST Global, Blackbird, Airtree, Salesforce Ventures, Visa Ventures, and several Australian pension funds. Half of the capital raised came from secondary share sales.

This valuation reflects a deliberate approach, up from $5.6 billion in 2022, when the company raised $100 million from notable investors like Square Peg, HongShan, and Lone Pine Capital. Airwallex’s chief revenue officer, Wu Kai, emphasized that maintaining this valuation is intentional, given the shift in investor priorities towards sustainable growth, product resilience, and scalability rather than aggressive expansion targets.

Strong Performance Backing Confidence

Airwallex’s financial metrics support its optimistic outlook. As of March, the company’s annualized revenue surpassed $720 million, marking a 90% year-over-year increase. Transaction volume jumped to $130 billion, up from $50 billion in 2022. The firm operates under licenses in over 60 jurisdictions and serves 150,000 businesses in more than 150 countries.

Speed remains a core strength with 95% of transactions completed within hours or the same day, and 68% processed instantly. The customer base nearly doubles annually. Airwallex’s extensive regulatory approvals span key markets including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, the UK, and the US. Since its 2015 inception, it has evolved from serving Chinese cross-border sellers to building a comprehensive global financial network.

Regarding an IPO, Wu stated that 2026 is the target for IPO readiness focused on internal growth and governance, but there is no fixed timeline or guarantee that the upcoming round will be the last before going public.

Key Factors Influencing Airwallex’s Valuation

Diversification of Customer Base

Airwallex’s customer base has shifted significantly. Originally reliant on Chinese cross-border businesses like Shein, the company now prioritizes “global local” firms expanding internationally from the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific regions. While Greater China accounted for over 80% of revenue in 2020, its share has dropped below 50%. The Americas and Europe now contribute 30%, with Asia Pacific (including Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea) making up 70% combined.

Wu clarified this is not a withdrawal from China but a strategy to foster growth abroad. The company has maintained a compound gross profit growth rate exceeding 250% across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Expanding Product Suite

Since launching its core money movement infrastructure in 2017, Airwallex has broadened its product offerings along the transaction chain. A major expansion in 2020 introduced card-issuing capabilities through the “Spend” product, which enables clients to manage global corporate expenses via a unified platform. Visa, a key investor, partnered early on this initiative. The Airwallex Visa card now generates nearly 30% of the company’s revenue.

Airwallex positions itself as a financial infrastructure provider, aiming to modularize services like foreign exchange, acquiring, and account issuance. This approach allows businesses to integrate financial services like building blocks, similar to how Amazon Web Services transformed cloud computing.

The platform supports over 160 payment methods and enables settlements in local currencies to reduce foreign exchange costs. Rooted in Asia Pacific, Airwallex benefits from local market insights that many Western fintechs lack. For example, Stripe’s operations in China are limited by restrictions on data access in Hong Kong, making it challenging to support Chinese firms going global. Airwallex has capitalized on this gap.

Recent client use cases include GOAT, a sneaker marketplace, using Airwallex’s forward exchange tools to hedge margins amid tariff changes, and UK-based CurrentBody leveraging scheduled currency conversion features to manage currency risk ahead of regulatory updates.

With cross-border payments projected to reach $150 trillion, Airwallex aims to become the financial operating system for international businesses, enabling money to move as seamlessly and instantly as data.

AI's Role in Shaping the Future of Finance

Airwallex sees traditional banks—not fintech startups—as its main competition. The fragmented global financial system offers an opening for innovation. Artificial intelligence stands out as a critical advantage.

Wu highlighted two AI-related strengths Airwallex holds over incumbent banks: superior data integration and processing capabilities, and a regulatory environment that supports agile decision-making. AI helps simplify complexity. Large language models (LLMs) assist in client onboarding and tailor service offerings. Generative AI powers KYC (know-your-customer) tools that improve detection accuracy and contextual understanding, distinguishing nuanced cases such as differentiating “champagne-colored dresses” from actual Champagne or legitimate phone accessories from illicit electronics.

The AI tools have halved false positives and increased account openings by 20%, reducing the need for manual review. With established systems for onboarding, support, expense management, and reconciliation, Airwallex is well placed to integrate AI agents gradually, combining its financial APIs with AI to build automation.

In finance, accuracy is essential—AI can automate reconciliation and fund tracking only if precision is ensured. Airwallex uses feedback loops between humans and machines to identify high-impact use cases and refine processes. This approach supports its vision of “AI agentic finance,” where AI doesn’t just assist but can take over roles like managing vendor relationships, approving expenditures, and handling invoice payments.

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