Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has led a new $58 million round of investment in TransferWise, the peer-to-peer money transfer service.
The London start-up, which claims to allow lower cost international money transfers, will receive the funds from Andreessen Horowitz and existing investors including Sir Richard Branson and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures.
The new funds will be used to expand continue the company’s global expansion, with new offices set to appear in the US, Germany and Australia in coming months. The company also plans to open 300 new currency routes over the next year.
The move is the latest technology investment by Andreessen Horowitz, the investment vehicle of Netscape and Opsware founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. They have previously invested in Facebook, Twitter, Airbnb, GitHub and Pinterest.
Horowitz commented: "We are thrilled to be backing Taavet and Kristo. They discovered an important secret and are uniquely prepared to pursue it."
"Not only is their solution 10 times better than the old way of exchanging foreign currency, but it could not have come at a better time. Since there has been little to no innovation from the traditional banking sector, we see massive opportunity for new financial institutions like TransferWise."
Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise, said:
"Andreessen Horowitz’s interest in TransferWise shows how ripe financial services are for disruption. For too long legacy providers’ dominance of the market has allowed consumers to be hoodwinked into paying huge hidden charges for services as basic as currency exchange."
"We’re excited to have Ben join our board. His experience will help us take our revolution in financial services across the globe, starting with the US offices we’re launching."
