Transferwise in $1bn valuation for fundraising valuation
LONDON money transfer startup Transferwise is on track to raise $50m (£31.5m) from US venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, in a deal that values the business at nearly $1bn.
The investment, first reported by the Financial Times, would be Transferwise’s largest to date. The startup has so far raised $33m in the three years since its launch.
Transferwise is an international money transfer platform that aims to disrupt the transfer market by using peer-to-peer technology to cut out the exchange fees charged by banks and brokers.
Reports of the investment come six months after Sir Richard Branson led a $25m investment round in the business.
Branson was joined at the time by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Index Ventures in raising the funds.
Sequoia Capital was an early investor in Apple in 1978, and has grown in recent years following its early backing of Google, Yahoo and PayPal. Additionally, Sequoia’s chairman Sir Michael Moritz made his name serving on the boards of both Google and Yahoo.
Transferwise declined to comment.