Visa in talks to invest in fintech startup Airwallex

Payments giant Visa Inc. is in talks to join an extension of the fintech startup Airwallex’s latest funding round, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Tencent Holdings Ltd.-backed startup is seeking to raise $100 million to $150 million in an extension to its series E round, the people said. Some of the startup’s existing shareholders could also participate, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.

Discussions are ongoing, and Airwallex and Visa haven’t reached any agreement yet, the people said.

Airwallex has been looking to raise as much as $150 million in the extension, Bloomberg News reported in April. It previously raised $100 million from investors including Lone Pine Capital and Sequoia Capital China in November, taking total fundraising in the series E round to about $300 million, according to a press release. The November round valued Airwallex at about $5.5 billion.

The extension round will value the startup at the same level, the people said. No final decisions have been made and details could still change, they added. Representatives for Airwallex and Visa declined to comment.

Founded in 2015 by the owners of a Melbourne coffee shop, Airwallex provides services including cross-border end-to-end payments and collection solutions for customers. It has more than 1,000 employees in 19 offices in countries including China, Australia, Japan, the US and the UK, according to its website.

The startup has raised about $800 million so far and counts DST Global and Mastercard Inc. among its backers, its website shows. The company is considering an initial public offering as soon as 2024, people familiar with the matter have said.

–By Gillian Tan, Manuel Baigorri and Jenny Surane (Bloomberg)