Cross-border payment company Airwallex is still advancing its preparations for listing, but will not rush to set a timeline in the short term. The company's president, Liu Yueting, recently stated that Airwallex's goal remains to reach a "listable" state by the end of this year. However, given the current complex market environment, now is not the most suitable time.
This payment company, which originated in Australia, currently serves over 675,000 enterprises and claims to have an annualized revenue run rate of over $1 billion. Airwallex previously discussed the possibility of going public in the United States in 2026, but with the widespread emergence of large global IPO, related plans have become more cautious.
Large IPO occupies market attention
This year, there have been several large-scale transactions in the global equity financing market. In the U.S. market, there have been significant events such as the listing of SpaceX, the issuance of SK by Hynix, and ADR; it is also believed that Anthropic may follow suit. On the Asian market, ChangXin Memory completed a major listing in Shanghai, and Alibaba conducted a $10 billion placement in Hong Kong.
In such an environment, even companies of relatively smaller size that are not lacking in popularity may have their attention diverted by larger financing projects. The article mentions that some investors become more cautious about how they allocate their funds when there is a concentration of large-scale projects, which also makes it more difficult for medium-sized tech companies to choose the ideal timing for going public.
Two rounds of financing have been completed this year.
Airwallex Currently, the company is not short of funds. In December last year, the company raised $330 million in financing, and in June this year, it completed another round of financing amounting to $320 million. Liu Yueting stated that the company aims to prepare sufficient capital first in order to accelerate business progress, including in areas such as agentic, commerce, and automated bookkeeping.
She also mentioned that current investors are not short of funds, but they prefer projects in the later stages. They wish to see clearer business records and implementation results before deciding whether to continue investing.
- Financing in December last year: $330 million
- Financing in June this year: $320 million
- The latest round is Series H.
U.S. expansion still faces political resistance
Airwallex is currently accelerating its entry into markets in Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, and the United States. The company has also recently relocated its headquarters from Australia to Singapore and San Francisco to support globalization and business expansion in the U.S.
However, its advancement in the United States was not entirely smooth. Last November, investor Keith Rabois publicly questioned the association of Airwallex with China, linking this claim to sensitive data security issues in the US. Subsequently, US Senator Tom Cotton also called for an investigation into the company regarding foreign capital scrutiny in the US.
Airwallex subsequently denied the relevant allegations. CEO Zhang Yiming stated that these claims are unfounded and claimed that Chinese employees do not have access to American data, and that the company has also introduced third-party institutions to audit its data security practices.
The company chooses to maintain flexibility.
The article argues that Airwallex currently has the ability to wait for a more suitable market window before deciding whether to officially launch IPO. However, if the waiting period is too long, there may also be risks of a decline in valuation or a weakening of market interest.
For Airwallex, the more realistic option at present is to maintain the financing capability and the pace of business expansion, and then arrange the listing process once the market conditions become clearer.
