TransferWise, a UK-based cross-border financial transfer service backed by corporates Mitsui and Virgin, has increased its valuation to $5bn through a $319m secondary transaction, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
D1 Capital Partners and Vulcan Capital bought into the company through the transaction, while Lone Pine Capital, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity and LocalGlobe increased their existing shareholding. The company did not name any investors that chose to sell stock.
Founded in 2010, TransferWise’s core product is an international remittance service with low fees. The company also offers a multi-currency bank account with a debit card, and recently secured regulatory approval in the UK to launch savings and investment products.
The company has grown to 8 million customers, processing some $5bn in cross-border payments across 54 currencies each month. It has been operating profitably since 2017.
Kristo Käärmann, chief executive of TransferWise, said: “We have been funded exclusively by our customers for the last few years and we did not need to raise external funding for the company.
“This secondary round provides an opportunity for new investors to come in, alongside rewarding the investors and employees who have helped us succeed so far.”
TransferWise previously completed a $292m secondary transaction in May 2019 that valued the business at $3.5bn.
The company’s last external funding round came in 2017, when TransferWise obtained $280m in series E funding at a $1.6bn valuation. The series E round was co-led by Old Mutual Global Investors and IVP, with participation from conglomerate Mitsui.
Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Sapphire Ventures, World Innovation Lab and Richard Branson filled out the series E round, which reportedly pushed TransferWise’s total equity funding to $397m.
Baillie Gifford led a $26m funding round in 2016, with participation from unnamed existing backers. TransferWise’s early investors include conglomerate Virgin, Index Ventures, Kima Ventures, IA Ventures and Valar Ventures.
– Image courtesy of TransferWise
