International money transfer service TransferWise has raised $280 million in a round of funding led by asset management firm Old Mutual Global Investors (OMGI) and Silicon Valley’s IVP, with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Mitsui & Co, World Innovation Lab, Richard Branson, Andreessen Horowitz, and Baillie Gifford.
Founded out of London in 2010, TransferWise offers a peer-to-peer (P2P) international money transfer service that bypasses banks to keep costs down.
Before now, TransferWise had raised around $120 million funding, and with its latest cash injection the company plans to develop new products and focus on expansion across Asia-Pacific, including India, while also expanding its recently announced “borderless bank account” that lets businesses store money in different currencies. The company is also planning a consumer-focused borderless account and card for Europe in 2018.
“We have a mission to bring TransferWise to everyone in the world who needs it,” said TransferWise cofounder and chairman Taavet Hinrikus. “Today, customers send well over 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) using our platform each month for every conceivable reason — whether to help out relatives back home, pay bills overseas, or expand their own business into new territories. But 1 billion pounds is just a slice of the market, which means millions of people are still being ripped off by banks and traditional currency brokers every day.”
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TransferWise says that it has been profitable since early 2017 and now claims that it serves more than 2 million customers across 42 countries. The company currently has 800 employees in key hubs around the world, including London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Sydney.
