Airwallex worth $16 billion after $460 million Series H

The round was led by existing backer Addition, supported by Baillie Gifford, Hummingbird, QED Investors, T. Rowe Price, Hedosophia, Haun Ventures, Washington University in St. Louis and Amex Ventures, and values the Melbourne-founded fintech at $16 billion (US$11bn).

The investment comes amid an ongoing investigation by the Australian government’s financial crimes regulator, AUSTRAC, over concerns that the now Singapore- and San Francisco-headquartered business failed to comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

Airwallex previously raised$498 million in a Series G last December that valued the business at US$8bn.

Local VCs Blackbird, Square Peg, and Airtree are among the company’s existing investors.

The new funding will go towards AI-based product development, and expanding its infrastructure and regulatory footprint into new markets.

The fintech now has US$1.3 billion in annualised revenue, up 74% on 12 months ago. The company said more than 90% of its revenue now comes from customers using more than one its products.

Addition’s Lee Fixel said Airwallex has built a product suite that’s hard to replicate.

“As AI transforms the competitive landscape, the winners will be the companies building on top of real financial infrastructure, not around it,” he said.

The business is also announcing two new product geared towards autonomous finance and agentic commerce.

CEO and cofounder Jack Zhang said: “This new capital lets us move faster into Airwallex’s next chapter: autonomous finance, agentic commerce, and the infrastructure to power both”.