Airwallex, a Singapore-based fintech firm specializing in cross-border payments and foreign exchange, is rapidly expanding its footprint and achieving remarkable growth, now boasting $1 billion in annualized revenue with a year-over-year expansion of 90%, according to comments made by cofounder and CEO Jack Zhang. In an interview with Fortune, Zhang detailed the company’s swift expansion into a diverse range of financial offerings, directly challenging established players like Ramp, Stripe, Mercury, Brex, Revolut, and a host of other significant fintech companies. “We’re competing with too many people,” Zhang stated. Airwallex’s current level of recognition within the United States remains relatively low, a situation the company is actively working to change with a concentrated push into North America and Europe. The firm’s remarkable trajectory – reaching $500 million in annualized revenue in nine years – was then amplified within just one additional year, doubling that figure to $1 billion. With gross profit margins exceeding 60%, as Zhang confirmed, Airwallex is establishing itself as a formidable competitor in the U.S. market. The company’s most recent valuation stands at $6 billion, a contrast to Ramp’s valuation of $22.5 billion and Stripe’s valuation of $106 billion, which occurred in a May funding round.
Following the achievement of cash flow positivity at the close of 2023, Airwallex has strategically reinvested in its business operations, with a revised target for achieving profitability once again slated for the fourth quarter of 2025, according to a statement provided to Fortune. “A significant factor in our success is our position as an outsider,” Zhang explained. “We’re not part of the Silicon Valley ecosystem.” Airwallex’s origins in Melbourne, Australia, prompted a strategic shift to Singapore, a key Asian finance hub, after its initial launch in the country in early 2022. Zhang emphasized the company’s globally focused approach from its inception, reflecting Australia’s comparatively smaller domestic market. Revenue streams have diversified significantly, with business accounts – mirroring Mercury’s offerings – accounting for a substantial 34% of the company’s revenue, spend management contributing 20%, and payments representing 30%. Beyond its core offerings, Airwallex also provides its global network of licenses and services to other fintech companies through API integrations, facilitating international expansion for firms such as Brex, Rippling, and Deel. “Our genuine differentiator is the underlying infrastructure—both from a regulatory perspective and within the financial services realm—that we’ve cultivated over the past decade,” Zhang noted.
As Airwallex continues to advance its presence in North America, including the recent establishment of a U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, Zhang acknowledged that the company isn’t positioned to compete directly with a U.S.-centric firm like Ramp. Instead, Airwallex focuses on companies seeking a worldwide platform to issue employee cards, open bank accounts, and pay merchants across numerous jurisdictions. Zhang stated that North America and Europe now account for approximately 40% of the company’s revenue, a considerable increase from zero just a few years prior. “If you’re a U.S. company, and you only have operations in Ohio, you’re better off using Ramp,” Zhang said. “However, if you’re a U.S. company that wants to sell in Australia, sell in Singapore, sell in the U.K., sell in Canada, and handle those transactions efficiently, while simultaneously managing banking, payments, spend, and treasury—that’s where Airwallex comes into play.” The company is also exploring emerging technologies.
Looking ahead, Airwallex is actively investigating artificial intelligence. Zhang is developing a wallet product intended to serve as foundational infrastructure for global agentic payments. He remains cautiously optimistic about the potential of scaling this AI agentic payments business to “a few $100 million” before considering an initial public offering (IPO). Furthermore, the company has recruited stablecoin developers, a dynamic area within fintech, although Zhang maintains a skeptical perspective regarding blockchain’s ability to surpass existing options for global money movement. “Merchant adoption is still very low, and there is currently no significant activity on the B2B side,” he commented. “I’m 99% skeptical, 1% probability.”
