Airwallex founder reveals he turned down a $1.2 billion acquisition offer from Stripe

Payment startup Airwallex founder and CEO Jack Zhang posted, "In 2018, Stripe offered to acquire us for $1.2 billion when our revenue was only $2 million. The valuation given by Stripe was 600 times revenue, and based on the latest Stripe stock price, I personally could have made over $2 billion. But the team rejected it. Today, we have raised $330 million, with a valuation of $8 billion and an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of $1 billion."

Earlier reports indicated that Airwallex raised $330 million in its latest funding round, reaching a valuation of $8 billion. According to a statement released on Monday, this valuation is approximately 30% higher than the previous funding round six months ago. This round of financing was led by Addition, with participation from institutions such as Activant, Lingotto, and TIAA Ventures.