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What\u2019s more mythical than a unicorn? A unicorn that is profitable. Six years after launch, TransferWise<\/a>, the London-headquartered international money transfer startup, which was most recently valued at a reported $1.1 billion<\/a>, has announced that it has finally reached profitability this calendar year and is \u201ccash-generating\u201d.<\/p>\n Breaking this down a little, the company says it\u2019s currently seeing \u00a38 million per month in revenue, which extrapolates to a \u00a3100 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 \u00a31 billion is being moved every month, saving its customers what it claims to be over \u00a31.5 million per day in foreign exchange fees.<\/p>\n For reference, the most recent regulatory filing for the tax year<\/em> ending March 2016, shows that TransferWise generated around \u00a327.8 million in revenue and made a pre-tax loss of \u00a317.4 million. It is yet to file its accounts for the year ending March 2017, but based on today\u2019s break-even announcement, we\u2019d expect any pre-tax losses to be considerably smaller.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the startup has raised around $117 million in total (which is roughly \u00a391 million at today\u2019s exchange rate). Top tier backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Peter Thiel\u2019s Valar Ventures, Sir Richard Branson, and most recently Baillie Gifford.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have hit break-even just six years on from launch shows how strong the foundations of our business are,\u201d says TransferWise co-founder and CEO Taavet Hinrikus in a statement. \u201cThis is just the starting point. With the unique platform we\u2019ve built, we\u2019re looking forward to creating a new kind of financial services for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Note the \u201cnew kind of financial services\u201d part of the canned quote? That\u2019s because I understand the company is eyeing up additional customer pain-points that could also be solved under the TransferWise brand with functionality or services beyond helping you send money from one country to another.<\/p>\n In a call with Hinrikus, he wouldn\u2019t be drawn on what they may be. However, when pressed he did say there were \u201cno plans\u201d to apply for a full banking license, for example, which would bring with it considerable further capital and regulatory requirements. In other words, we probably shouldn\u2019t expect a TransferWise challenger bank any time soon.<\/p>\n With that said, let me speculate on what products I think the company could quite easily move into, should it choose to do so. Friend-to-friend or P2P payments within the same country, along the lines of Paypal\u2019s Venmo or Barclays Pingit, doesn\u2019t seem a stretch, given that TransferWise already has much of that infrastructure already in place. It also seems odd that the company doesn\u2019t offer its own debit card with low cost currency exchange when spending abroad, for example.<\/p>\n Were it to the latter, that would see it go up against Revolut<\/a>, and a ton of other much more recent fintech startups that utilise MasterCard\u2019s low exchange rate, including all-your-cards-in-one app Curve<\/a>, of which Hinrikus himself is an investor.<\/p>\n What the TransferWise founder would say, however, is that having built a strong and trusted brand and now with a 1 million plus customer base, the company is in a great position to help its customers solve further problems adjacent to (or perhaps around the edges of) what it already offers. And it\u2019s true, the startup has, right from the get go, spent a lot of time and money on building the TransferWise brand and what is undoubtedly a great product.<\/p>\n Given that you could argue that currency exchange is becoming a commodity, because of much-increased competition, I asked Hinrikus what was more important to TransferWise\u2019s success over the last six years, its brand or product? \u201cA billion dollar question,\u201d he replied, before pausing for thought and choosing his words in a carefully considered manner, as he is wont to do. \u201cA product actually builds your brand. It\u2019s hard to have a great product which does not end up standing on its own two feet as a brand\u201d.<\/p>\n To that end, I\u2019m told TransferWise now claims 10 per cent of the international money transfer market in the U.K., a market still dominated by the major four banks who account for about 80 per cent by some estimates. Or, put over simply, the company is now the size of half a bank in international money transfer terms, something that hasn\u2019t gone entirely unnoticed<\/a> by those incumbent banks.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look around there are a lot of other fintech companies but they are often selling their own product through a bank,\u201d adds Hinrikus. \u201cIn the fintech space, I believe we will only see a couple of new global brands being build, and I\u2019m pretty sure we are going to be one of them\u201d.<\/p>\n Lastly, here\u2019s a bit of fun. The TransferWise founder recently tweeted a copy of his first ever pitch email to TechCrunch, more than six years ago, which resulted in the fintech unicorn\u2019s first wave of coverage and revenue. The 700 person-strong and now profitable company has come a long way since then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2014\/12\/transferwise-fyck-advert.jpg?w=680\"){kind=spacer}
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”. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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