CurrencyFair has raised €8m and has appointed a new CMO to help drive its global expansion
Dublin start-up CurrencyFair, which provides peer-to-peer currency exchange services, has raised €8m in a fresh funding round.
The funding round brings the total investment in CurrencyFair to more than €20m so far. The latest round was led by Octopus Ventures and includes support from existing investors, including Proxy Ventures.
CurrencyFair announced 50 new jobs at its Ballsbridge headquarters in Dublin last October.
A former Siliconrepublic.com Start-up of the Week, CurrencyFair was founded in 2010 and has surpassed the $1bn barrier in terms of money-matching services.
The company has raised the funding to support its marketing drive in the competitive peer-to-peer market and has hired marketing hotshot Nils Andén to spearhead its strategy.
Before joining CurrencyFair, Nils Andén was CMO of Unibet Group PLC, one of Europe’s biggest online gambling operators, where he was responsible for the activation of a £100m-plus annual marketing budget and a team of 150 people across 20 territories.
“We are the only true peer-to-peer currency exchange platform and attracting people of the quality of Nils and the team at Proxy Ventures is a validation of the brilliant product and marketplace we have built,” said Brett Meyers, CEO of CurrencyFair.
“Working with them will help us further develop our brand and the industry as something people and businesses can trust to save them money. Peer-to-peer currency exchange is ‘approaching widespread adoption and now needs a more mature voice.”
Substance over style
Andén’s team was a key driver of the commercial strategy, which delivered an increase in Unibet’s market cap from £300m in 2010 to £2bn in 2015.
“Style gets you noticed but substance gets you remembered,” Andén said.
“I have joined CurrencyFair, the first platform in the world to break the $1 billion barrier in transfers, and I believe I’ve joined the company with the most substance, both in having the best product in the industry but also in terms of how fairly it treats its customers.”
Main image via Shutterstock
