Payments platform Airwallex has raised US$200 million in an oversubscribed Series E financing round, taking its valuation to US$4 billion and cementing its position as one of the fastest growing unicorns today.

The latest round was led by Lone Pine Capital. New investors G Squared and Vetamer Capital also participated, alongside existing investors including 1835i Ventures (formerly ANZi), DST Global, Salesforce Ventures and Sequoia Capital China. With the completion of Series E, Airwallex has achieved more than US$700 million in equity funds raised to date.

The investment will support Airwallex's global expansion and accelerate multiple product development initiatives across its five engineering hubs, grow its sales and commercial teams, and increase its breadth of offerings for small and medium-scale enterprises and larger businesses operating in the digital economy.

Jack Zhang, Airwallex co-founder and chief executive officer, says: "We are excited to welcome Lone Pine Capital and our new Silicon Valley investors. Their wealth of experience, foresight and successful industry track records are a significant validation of our business and global growth strategy."

"From the start, our vision has been to build a global financial operating system that will allow modern businesses to operate without borders," Zhang adds. "This additional capital enables us to scale our presence in North America, UK, Europe and other new markets including the Middle East, South America and Southeast Asia, and become a dominant leader in global payments."

Established in Melbourne, Australia, in 2015, the company has seen significant business growth, with a year-on-year revenue growth of nearly 150% for the first half of 2021. It has processed more than US$20 billion for a global client portfolio that has quadrupled in size, serving innovative global businesses such as GOAT, Papaya Global and Stake.

Airwallex has nearly doubled its headcount, employing almost 1,000 employees in over 20 locations globally. This year, it launched a series of new products and reached major milestones including opening for business in the United States last month, and securing an electronic money institution licence in the Netherlands and a money services business licence in Malaysia.