WOW! After launching six years ago TransferWise is now "generating cash". The London-based international money transfer startup (unicorn) seems to have turned the corner and now says its kicking off around $6.5M per month. Still a big valuation, but the big name backers are obviously happy. Hmmmm, so FintekNews has another few years on the TransferWise timetable to see some cash. Sorry Amex.
(Bill Taylor, CEO)
"What’s more mythical than a unicorn? A unicorn that is profitable. Six years after launch, TransferWise, the London-headquartered international money transfer startup, which was most recently valued at a reported $1.1 billion, has announced that it has finally reached profitability this calendar year and is “cash-generating”.
Breaking this down a little, the company says it’s currently seeing £8 million per month in revenue, which extrapolates to a £100 million revenue run-rate, and is growing 150 per cent year-on-year and expecting to do the same this year. It also says over £1 billion is being moved every month, saving its customers what it claims to be over £1.5 million per day in foreign exchange fees.
For reference, the most recent regulatory filing for the tax year ending March 2016, shows that TransferWise generated around £27.8 million in revenue and made a pre-tax loss of £17.4 million. It is yet to file its accounts for the year ending March 2017, but based on today’s break-even announcement, we’d expect any pre-tax losses to be considerably smaller.
Meanwhile, the startup has raised around $117 million in total (which is roughly £91 million at today’s exchange rate). Top tier backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Sir Richard Branson, and most recently Baillie Gifford.
“To have hit break-even just six years on from launch shows how strong the foundations of our business are,” says TransferWise co-founder and CEO Taavet Hinrikus in a statement. “This is just the starting point. With the unique platform we’ve built, we’re looking forward to creating a new kind of financial services for the future.”...
Source: TechCrunch