Rakuten-backed digital money transfer service Azimo raises £15m Series C

Azimo, a digital money transfer service based in London and Krakow, has raised a $20m (£15m) Series C financing round, led by Rakuten Capital, the investment arm of Japanese innovation giant Rakuten Inc.

Other investors participating in the round included e.ventures, Frog Capital, GR Capital Partners, Greycroft Partners, MCI, Quona Capital and Silicon Valley Bank, which today was also granted a lending licence by BaFin.

The round brings Azimo’s total amount of equity investment raised to over $50m (£37.7m), after growing its platform to more than 1.5m registered customers and well over $1bn (£755m) in annualised sending volume. According to Rakuten, this latest funding is expected to bring the business to sustained profitability within 12 months.

“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.”

The money transfer service enables payments in more than 80 currencies to over 190 receiving countries, which it says could equate to more than 5bn potential customers via a variety of payout methods, including cash, bank deposits and mobile wallets.

Oskar Mielczarek de la Miel, managing partner at Rakuten Capital, commented that the firm’s customer acquisition costs have dropped by two-thirds since it first got involved with Azimo.

He added: "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.”