- SwooshTransfer, a relatively new company catering to the Chinese market and with global ambitions, has raised millions of dollars in a funding round – although it declined to comment on the exact amount.
- Investors include Sequoia China and K2VC.
- “In international payments, the fees [charged by third-party services] are traditionally opaque, and users receive little or no customised service,” said the firm’s founder as he explained the context of the new move.
SwooshTransfer, a leading provider in the international money transfer sector, has announced the close of a significant funding round as part of a push to offer improved automated payments.
SwooshTransfer has not confirmed the amount raised in the funding round, although press reports put the total at several million US dollars.
The investors are understood to include K2VC and Sequoia China.
It is thought that the company will endeavour to improve global transactions for those in China and further afield.
Max Ma set up the company last year. He has worked at several other well-known Chinese financial technology institutions in recent years, including Ant Group, which is an affiliate of Alibaba.
It is understood that the current target audience of the new firm includes Chinese people who are selling online. Another target group is thought to be Chinese students. However, the company clearly has international ambitions.
It has already announced its presence in Britain and has taken on a local leader to serve as acting chief executive officer.
It is thought that the firm ultimately intends to emphasise its suite of marketing tools to its UK-based sellers. In turn, it will probably use this to try to enter markets in Europe.
This was all relayed in an interview discussion with Max Ma. In the interview, Ma shared his thoughts on the phenomenon of China-based small to medium-sized businesses moving up to an international scale – something he said was becoming more and more common.
But he also pointed out that the tools required to help the businesses go to the next level were often somewhat lacking.
“Chinese SMEs going global are rising, but there aren’t many friendly tools to support their business,” he said.
He also pointed out that the global payments sector sometimes failed people in this regard because the fee structure was not always transparent – and users could not count on a bespoke service.
“In international payments, the fees [charged by third-party services] are traditionally opaque, and users receive little or no customised service,” he said.
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