TransferWise launches in the US
The Estonian-founded, London-based, money transfer start-up, TransferWise, has launched its service in the US, opening an office in New York.
Joe Cross, one of the company’s early employees, will lead the New York office as general manager. He will be building a team from the new hub in New York’s Soho West. Cross previously worked as the company’s head of marketing. Prior to this, he was head of strategy and brand at shopping and travel site Kelkoo.
The launch follows a recent 58 million US dollar (51 million euro) funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm founded by Netscape and Opsware founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. TransferWise pledged to use this investment to expand globally, and its US launch represents the start of its latest international rollout.
In the coming months, TransferWise plans to open offices in Germany and Australia and launch another 300 currency routes later in the next year. Besides entering the US market, the company also announced entering Brazil, the Philippines, Canada, Malaysia and Nigeria.
TransferWise was founded in London by Estonians Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus in early 2011, making transfers between just the British pound and euro. It now has 250 staff, 292 currency routes and continues to grow between 15-20 percent a month.
Editor: S. Tambur
