Business

Financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC demands an external auditor for Airwallex over AML/CTF concerns

- January 22, 2026 3 MIN READ

The Australian government’s financial system anti-crimes regulator, AUSTRAC, has called in an external auditor at Airwallex over concerns that the fintech unicorn has failed to properly comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas, said the external audits will assess serious compliance concerns by the regulator, which is charged with… Read more »

Scrooge McDuck
Business

Da biggest bucks: The 10 Australian startups that raised a combined $2.74 billion in 2025

- December 23, 2025 4 MIN READ

Despite the continued strained economic climate, we’ve seen some big chunks of change thrown around in 2025. While early-stage funding stayed constrained for much of the year, large cheques concentrated around a smaller group of companies certainly prevailed. In some cases, twice. These were some of the largest Australian startup raises of 2025, and the… Read more »

Fintech

Cheque-in: 6 startups banking a whopping $568.1 million two weeks before Christmas

- December 12, 2025 5 MIN READ

With 12 more sleeps to Christmas, Melbourne-born Airwallex wins the 2025 Australian capital raising stakes with a massive $498 million Series G that values the fintech at $12 billion. Meanwhile, cybersecurity startup Kasada and sole trader accounting platform Hnry also booked $30 million and $26 million raises, respectively. Keep reading to learn more about six… Read more »

Business

From broke at 16 to billionaire: Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang says 2025 is the year his global fintech finally stopped ‘almost dying’

- December 10, 2025 5 MIN READ

The arc of a tech company’s success is often sprinkled with near death experiences. And according to Airwallex cofounder Jack Zhang, the business, which raised $498 million in a Series G this week, had so many lives in its first 10 years, it should probably be nicknamed “Catwallex”. London-based Zhang took to social media overnight… Read more »

popcorn
Business

A US Stripe investor launched an extraordinary ‘Reds under the beds’ spray against Airwallex – and the fintech’s cofounders joined in on X to deny Chinese access to data

- December 3, 2025 4 MIN READ

Unless you’ve stayed on Elon Musk’s social media platform,  X – previously known as Twitter – you probably missed an extraordinary rant from US investor Keith Rabois claiming that “Airwallex has become a Chinese backdoor into sensitive American data like from AI labs and defense contractors”. The former PayPal exec – yes he’s part of… Read more »

Phoebe Harrop, Tom Humphrey, Michael Tolo
Global tech

Airwallex is Blackbird’s new Canva, as the VC devalues workplace software unicorns Culture Amp and Safety Culture

- November 25, 2025 2 MIN READ

Blackbird’s come-to-Jesus moment six months ago, when it tipped $60 million from its 2022 follow-on fund into Airwallex, is now being pitched to the VC’s investors as its rising star. Details from the annual Blackbird Ventures investor day were leaked to Capital Brief’s Bronwen Clune, and included details of Canva’s performance, with the VC flagging… Read more »

Business

Airwallex and McLaren have teamed up with the Aboriginal artist who did burnouts in a Rolls-Royce for the Melbourne F1

- February 26, 2025 2 MIN READ

If you’ve ever had a meal at di Stasio’s Citta in Melbourne, or watched the Matildas play Japan last week, you’ve seen the work of Kamilaroi artist Reko Rennie. Rennie’s 8-minute video, OA_RR, driving a Rolls Royce in burnouts in the desert country of his grandmother, plays behind the bar at the Italian restaurant, and… Read more »