Airwallex, an Australia-based international remittance service backed by internet group Tencent, is seeking $200m in a series D round led by an undisclosed financial services firm, DealStreetAsia reported on Friday.
The company confirmed that it was raising capital but did not offer any additional details. People familiar with the matter told DealStreetAsia it is targeting a $1.5bn pre-money valuation, up from $1bn in its last round.
Founded in 2015, Airwallex has built a cross-border remittance service that allows enterprise clients to send and receive foreign currencies as well as access interbank exchange rates.
Users can also open a bank account capable of managing payments from more than 130 countries. Airwallex’s technology can be integrated into businesses’ existing financial systems to facilitate functionality such as the automation of financial transfers.
Airwallex also launched a multi-currency virtual debit card in partnership with payment services firm Visa last month, for purposes such as e-commerce purchases or travel and hotel bookings.
The company has raised $202m in funding to date. Tencent took part in a $100m series C round in March 2019 that was led by DST Global and backed by Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Gobi Partners, Horizons Ventures and Square Peg Capital.
Tencent also participated in Airwallex’s $80m series B round in mid-2018 together with Central Capital Ventura, the corporate venturing vehicle for financial services firm Bank Central Asia, as well as Sequoia, Hillhouse, Horizons Ventures and Square Peg Capital.
Airwallex secured $13m in a May 2017 series A round featuring Tencent, payment services provider Mastercard and Sequoia, before adding $6m in a series A-plus financing from Square Peg in December the same year.
