Australia just got its first-ever fintech unicorn:
This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence Fintech Briefing subscribers. To receive the full story plus other insights each morning,Australia-based fintech Airwallex raised $100 million in a Series C funding round led by DST Global that included participation from Sequoia China, Tencent, Hillhouse Capital, and Gobi Partners, according toThis brings Airwallex's total funding to over $200 million, making it Australia's first-ever fintech unicorn.
Airwallex will fuel global expansion with the fresh capital. Initially, Airwallex focused on Asia — China, in particular — but with the new funding, it wants to expand globally. It aims to drive this international expansion with acquisitions and is actively looking to acquire startups in both the US and the UK.Airwallex may be Australia's first fintech unicorn, but it's unlikely to be its last as we expect the region's fintech to pick up pace.
Funding and a more accommodating approach to fintech will fuel the Australian fintech scene. Three years after launching, Airwallex has reached a valuation of over $1 billion. And this is not surprising when looking at the recent funding uptick in Australia: Funding grew 396% from $69 million in 2017 to $343 million in 2018, per.
It's likely that more players in the country will expand internationally. Fifty-four percent of fintechs in Australia cited expansion to new markets as a focus for this year, with the UK leading the way for a potential new market, followed by the US, according to . With funding increasing in the country, other fintechs may have the necessary capital to be able to expand internationally.1. Sign up for the Fintech Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >>pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the Fintech Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports.
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