Digital money transfer service Azimo raises $20m in Series C funding round led by Rakuten Capital

Azimo, the leading European digital money transfer service, today announced that it has closed a $20m Series C investment round led by Rakuten Capital, the investment arm of global innovation leader Rakuten, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo. Investors e.ventures, Frog Capital, GR Capital Partners, Greycroft Partners, MCI, Quona Capital and Silicon Valley Bank also participated in the financing.

The Series C funding round brings the total amount of equity investment raised by Azimo to over $50m.

“We’re excited to strengthen further our relationship with Rakuten Capital,” said Azimo’s CEO Michael Kent. “This financing will be used to make our service even better and to sustain the rapid growth in our customer base.  We’re keeping our focus primarily on Europe – the largest, most diverse and chronically underserved money transfer market in the world.”

Azimo is rapidly growing its share of the $600 billion global cross-border payments market, having built an unrivalled global platform that enables payments in more than 80 currencies to more than 190 receiving countries.  Azimo can now reach more than 5 billion potential customers via a wide variety of payout methods, including cash, bank deposits and mobile wallets.

Azimo’s advantages in speed, price and ease of use have led to sustained top-line growth above 100% year-on-year. The service now has more than 1.5 million registered customers and well over $1 billion in annualised sending volume.

Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, Managing Partner at Rakuten Capital, said: “We continue to be impressed by Azimo’s mission, team and executional prowess. Azimo has the best technology in the sector, and the business is delivering rapid growth and efficiency. Customer acquisition costs have dropped by two-thirds since we first got involved with Azimo.  This latest funding will comfortably bring the business to sustained profitability within 12 months.”