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Airwallex Hits $6.2 Billion Valuation in New $300 Million Funding Round

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Airwallex, the global fintech firm specializing in cross-border payments, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $300 million in fresh capital, lifting its valuation to $6.2 billion — an 11% increase from its previous valuation in 2022.

The raise comes at a time when the broader private funding market remains tepid. According to PitchBook, over 26% of completed deals in Q1 2025 were either flat or down rounds, reflecting ongoing investor caution amid persistent high interest rates, recession fears, and geopolitical uncertainty, particularly around U.S. trade policy under Donald Trump.

Growth Despite Market Headwinds

Founded in Melbourne in 2015, Airwallex has grown into a leading payments platform offering international invoicing, cross-border payments, and spend management tools. The company moved its U.S. headquarters to San Francisco in 2023 and now has its global headquarters in Singapore.

“Just a few years ago, most of our business came from our cross-border infrastructure. Today, online payment processing and spend management account for over 70% of net revenue,” said Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Airwallex.

The firm’s client roster includes global names such as Shein, Qantas, and Xero.

Investor Support and Strategic Focus

The latest round included backing from well-known venture firms such as Square Peg, DST Global, Lone Pine Capital, and Blackbird, bringing Airwallex’s total funding to over $1.2 billion.

Zhang emphasized that Airwallex is targeting Japan, Korea, and Latin America for its next wave of geographic expansion, further challenging incumbents like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup in the global payments arena.

Industry Context

While the fintech sector enjoyed explosive growth during the post-COVID digital transformation wave, funding has since slowed dramatically. Airwallex’s successful raise — and upward valuation — positions it as a standout performer in a cautious investment climate, signaling investor confidence in its business model and global strategy.

Paris Overtakes London as Europe’s Leading Tech Ecosystem, Dealroom Finds

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Paris has officially emerged as Europe’s new tech capital, overtaking London in key metrics for the first time, according to new data from Dealroom, a platform that tracks startup and venture capital activity.

Between 2017 and 2024, the combined enterprise value of Paris-based startups grew by a remarkable 5.3x, compared to 4.2x for London. While London still attracts larger individual funding rounds, Paris’s startup ecosystem has seen greater valuation growth relative to the capital raised, suggesting a more efficient translation of investment into company value.

In 2023, French startups — including high-profile players like Mistral AI and Poolside — raised $7.8 billion, compared to London’s $11.3 billion. Despite the funding gap, Paris’s growth in enterprise value pushed it to the top spot in Dealroom’s rankings, a shift driven by more impactful fundraising and a stronger valuation trajectory.

Paris is now the only European city featured in Dealroom’s list of the top five global tech champions, a list otherwise dominated by U.S. hubs.

🔍 Europe’s Tech Struggles

The Dealroom announcement comes alongside a sobering report from McKinsey, which highlights Europe’s broader tech stagnation. While the global market capitalization of tech, media, and telecom firms rose from $7 trillion in 2000 to $34 trillion in 2023, Europe’s share fell from 30% to just 7%. Had the region retained its former share, it could have generated $8 trillion more in market value.

🚀 Paris on the Global Stage

The news comes ahead of VivaTech 2024, one of the world’s largest tech conferences, set to take place in Paris next month. The event will host leaders from global tech giants like Nvidia, Alibaba, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. Last year’s edition attracted over 165,000 attendees, solidifying Paris’s status as a major global innovation hub.

François Bitouzet, VivaTech’s managing director, emphasized the city’s momentum:

“It’s not just about the competitiveness of Paris on the AI scene today, it’s also about what will happen next and how we can keep on attracting the talent, investment, and the tech activities.”

🇫🇷 Macron’s Vision Paying Off?

Since 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron has championed tech as a national priority, pushing for leadership in AI and deep tech. His administration has encouraged foreign investment, supported ambitious startups, and launched initiatives like Station F, the world’s largest startup incubator.

Paris’s recent rise appears to validate that strategy — and offers a rare beacon of tech success in a European ecosystem otherwise struggling to keep pace with its U.S. and Asian rivals.

Andreessen Horowitz-Backed AI Studio Promise Partners with Google, Expands Investor Base

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Generative AI content studio Promise, backed by venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, announced a strategic partnership with Google to integrate its cutting-edge AI technologies into the studio’s production tools and creative pipeline.

Promise will leverage Google’s AI capabilities, including collaboration with researchers from DeepMind, to enhance its proprietary workflow software MUSE — a platform aimed at streamlining content production for the entertainment industry.

The studio also revealed it has broadened its investor pool. New funding comes from Google’s AI Futures Fund, Crossbeam Venture Partners, and an increased investment from North Road Company, the media firm founded by former News Corp President Peter Chernin, who is also a co-lead investor.

Promise was co-founded by Fullscreen CEO George Strompolos, former YouTube executive Jamie Byrne, and AI artist Dave Clark. The startup aims to position itself at the forefront of the generative AI boom in entertainment, offering tools to reduce production costs and accelerate timelines for content development.

The company is already working with Hollywood partners on a multi-year slate of AI-driven projects. Production for Promise’s first feature-length film is set to begin later this year, marking a major step in its ambition to reshape storytelling with generative AI.

As traditional studios continue to explore the role of AI in filmmaking, Promise’s alliance with Google could set a precedent for deeper integration of AI into Hollywood’s creative and technical ecosystems.