Airwallex to spend USD590m on UK, EMEA growth

11:55pm on 11 December 2025

The news: Fintech Airwallex announced plans to inject USD590 million ($886.33 million) into its UK business across the next five years to drive local and regional growth.

The context: The Australian-founded, Singapore-based business banking firm said in a press release Thursday that it plans to expand credit card and recurring billing products as well as boosting hiring in the UK as it grows its headcount to 160.

Airwallex also announced new hire Christos Chamberlain, former general manager of international logistics firm Flexport, to lead operations across the UK and wider European region.

Chamberlain said that “companies in the UK and Europe are navigating increasingly complex financial and operational challenges as they scale. Airwallex is perfectly positioned to remove that friction.”

The company said it plans to invest additional multi-million dollar amounts in other key geographies, including the Netherlands, France and Germany in early 2026, with other markets to follow.

Airwallex recently shifted its London headquarters to a Fitzrovia office space.

The news comes after Airwallex announced a $500 million Series G funding round at a valuation of USD8 billion. The company also plans to deploy more than USD1 billion between 2026 and 2029 to scale its US operations, attract talent and expand its physical and brand footprint.

What they said: Jack Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, said: “While overall investment in the UK has faced headwinds in recent years, our commitment is moving in the opposite direction. We continue to see enormous potential here, especially as the global financial ecosystem pivots to a world defined by AI and new cross-border trading norms. This multi-year investment reflects our confidence in the UK as a launchpad for regional growth across EMEA, and our determination to build the financial infrastructure businesses need to compete internationally."

The source: Airwallex press release