Airwallex should be given credit for adjusting its business strategy from an overzealous – and unrealistic – focus on dethroning the Swift messaging network to a savvier geographic expansion that if successful could eventually make it a truly global payments platform. In a news release, Airwallex said that its growth in the Americas has been brisk and a key contributor to overall burgeoning revenue. Revenue in the Americas has risen 300% over the past year. Further, the company now has boots on the ground in San Francisco, New York, Austin, Toronto, and Brazil.
In an interview with CNBC, Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang said that the UK, Europe, and North America now account for more than 35% of Airwallex’s overall transaction volumes. With regards to IPO plans, he declined to offer a specific date, only a broad timeframe. “For us, it’s just about getting IPO-ready in the next two years so that we have the choice to go or not go,” he said, adding that in 2025, “we will prepare everything, and we can decide what to do after 2026.”
The B2B payments firm is also growing its footprint in the Middle East. In May, CEO Jack Zhang reportedly spoke with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Co. and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The company plans to start operations in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the first phase of its Middle Eastern expansion, and eventually expand into Qatar and Bahrain.
While there is no doubt that Airwallex is committed to aggressive international expansion that it bets will provide it with the scale it needs to reach profitability, questions remain about some aspects of its business model. In particular, Zhang’s belief that Airwallex can deal with its cash-burning problem by replacing sales development representatives (SDR) with AI is a bit disquieting. He told CNBC that Airwallex is experimenting with 11x, a company that gives other businesses access to digital “AI workers.” Zhang said that AI could replace as much as 70% of those roles within its business with AI.