SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CB Insights today named Airwallex to the fourth annual Fintech 250, a prestigious list of emerging private companies working on groundbreaking financial technology. This year’s list was unveiled on stage at CB Insights’ Future of Fintech conference in New York City.
“This is the fourth class of the Fintech 250, and it’s also the most international, representing 26 countries. These 250 fintech startups are attacking an incredibly diverse array of financial services opportunities across 19 sectors, including digital banking, insurance, payroll, retail investing, and more,” said CB Insights CEO Anand Sanwal. “After being named to the CB Insights Fintech 250 last year, the 2020 class saw 17 companies go public and 25 get acquired. They also went on to raise over $25B in additional financing and forged more than 380 new partnerships after being recognized. The Fintech 250 has a history of spotlighting the very best fintech companies, and this year is no different. We're excited to see how these fintech startups disrupt and transform financial services in the years ahead."
Lucy Liu, Co-founder and President of Airwallex said, “As a leading global fintech business, we are delighted to have been recognized by CB insights in all four of their Fintech 250 lists, which is a testament to Airwallex’s tremendous growth since our inception in 2015. This is just the beginning, and as we continue to expand globally, we remain committed to our mission of empowering businesses of all sizes to grow without borders.”
Through an evidence-based approach, the CB Insights Intelligence Unit selected the Fintech 250 from a pool of over 17,000 companies, including applicants and nominees.They were chosen based on several factors, including data submitted by the companies, company business models and momentum in the market, and Mosaic scores, CB Insights’ proprietary algorithm that measures the overall health and growth potential of private companies.
Founded in 2015, Airwallex is one of the fastest-growing global fintech platforms today and has seen significant business growth in the last year, recording a year-over-year revenue growth of nearly 150% for the first half of 2021, and processing more than annualised US$20 billion for a global client portfolio that has quadrupled in size, serving innovative global businesses such as GOAT, Papaya Global and Stake. The company has nearly doubled its headcount in 2021 and employs almost 1,000 employees today in over 20 locations globally. In September 2021, the company announced its US$200 million Series E fundraising round, valuing the company at US$4 billion. This year, Airwallex launched a series of new products and reached major milestones with its global expansion plans, opening for business in the U.S. in August, as well as securing an EMI license in the Netherlands and a Money Services Business license in Malaysia.
Fintech 250 2021: Investment Highlights
- Unicorns: 118 of the 250 companies (47%) are valued at or above $1B as of their latest funding round
- Funding trends: In 2021 year-to-date (YTD), these 250 private companies have raised $40.3B in equity funding across 275 deals (as of 9/14/21)
- Mega-rounds: Since 2020, there have been 178 mega-round ($100M+) equity investments to this year’s Fintech 250, with 138 of them in 2021 YTD
- Global representation: 36% of the 2021 Fintech 250 are based outside the US. After the US, the UK is home to the most Fintech 250 companies (25), followed by India (12). This year’s winners are based in 26 countries, including France, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, and Nigeria.
- Top VC investor: Ribbit Capital is the most active investor in this year’s Fintech 250 companies, having invested in 62 deals since 2016. Since 2019, Ribbit has participated in 41 deals with this cohort of companies, including to Nubank, Uala, Brex, Vouch, Razorpay, and BharatPe. Tiger Global Management and Accel were close behind with 57 and 55 deals, respectively.
About CB Insights
CB Insights builds software that enables the world's best companies to discover, understand, and make technology decisions with confidence. By marrying data, expert insights, and work management tools, clients manage their end-to-end technology decision-making process on CB Insights. To learn more, please visit www.cbinsights.com.
About Airwallex
Airwallex is a global payment platform with a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to grow without borders, and by doing so, contribute to the global economy. With technology at its core, Airwallex has built a financial infrastructure and platform to help businesses manage online payments, treasury and payout globally, without the constraints of the traditional financial system. Airwallex has secured over US$700 million since it was established in 2015, and is backed by world-leading investors. Today, the business operates with a team of almost 1,000 employees across 20 locations globally. For more information, please visit www.airwallex.com.
