Company:Azimo

From HandWiki
Short description: Dutch money transfer company
Azimo
TypePrivate company
IndustryFinancial technology
Founded2012
FoundersMichael Kent, Marta Krupinska, Ricky Knox, Marek Wawro
DefunctAugust 1, 2023 (2023-08-01)
Headquarters
Amsterdam
,
Netherlands
Area served
Europe (sending);
worldwide (receiving)
Key people
Michael Kent (Founder, EC)
Richard Ambrose (CEO)
ServicesMoney transfer
Websiteazimo.com

Azimo B.V. was an online remittance service headquartered in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It also had offices in Kraków, Poland.[1]

Azimo offered money transfers to 190 receiving countries in over 80 different currencies. The company had half a million customers connected to its platform and offered more than 270,000 cash pick-up locations globally.[2] As of October 2019, sending countries were limited to Europe.

In March 2022, Azimo was acquired by the New York City –based payroll and payments solutions provider, Papaya Global,[3] and closed their money transfer services in August 2022.

History

Azimo was founded in October 2012 in London, United Kingdom.[4] In 2016, an updated version of its app was launched with features including in-app chat and biometric security.[5]

As of early 2016, Azimo had raised $31 million in Series A and B funding[6] from investors including Frog Capital, Greycroft, MCI.TechVentures, e.ventures and Quona Capital. In May 2016, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten invested in Azimo to accelerate the company's expansion into Asia.[7][8][9]

In 2020, Azimo moved to the Netherlands as a result of Brexit.[10][11] Two years later it was acquired by Papaya Global and stopped operating.

Operations

Azimo offered money transfers to 190 receiving countries in over 80 different currencies. The company had half a million customers connected to its platform and offers more than 270,000 cash pick-up locations globally.[12] In 2016, an updated version of its app was launched with features including in-app chat and biometric security.[13]

As of October 2019, sending countries were limited to Europe that are primarily in the EU. The list of sending countries is:

  •  Austria
  •  Belgium
  •  Cyprus
  •  Denmark
  •  Estonia
  •  Finland
  •  France
  •  Germany
  •  Greece
  •  Ireland
  •  Italy
  •  Latvia
  •  Lithuania
  •  Luxembourg
  •  Malta
  •  Netherlands
  •  Norway
  •  Poland
  •  Portugal
  •  Slovakia
  •  Slovenia
  •  Spain
  •  Sweden
  •   Switzerland
  •  United Kingdom


References

  1. "Azimo offers a cheaper way to send money home". The Washington Post. 24 November 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/business/azimo-offers-a-cheaper-way-to-send-money-home/2014/11/24/59b3f936-73c8-11e4-95a8-fe0b46e8751a_video.html. 
  2. Wall, Matthew (23 March 2015). "Money may make the world go round, but at what cost?". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31639262. 
  3. April 2022, 4th (2022-04-04). "Money transfer app Azimo acquired by Papaya Global" (in en-GB). https://www.fintechfutures.com/2022/04/money-transfer-app-azimo-acquired-by-payroll-and-payments-firm-papaya-global/. 
  4. "10 of the best money-saving apps". The Guardian. 12 April 2013. https://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/apr/12/10-best-money-saving-apps. 
  5. "Azimo Launches New Version Of Mobile App" (in en-US). 20 October 2016. https://www.pymnts.com/mobile-applications/2016/azimo-launched-new-mobile-app/. 
  6. Ahmed, Murad. "Remittances group Azimo raises $20m on valuation of $100m". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1c34f6b6-0f75-11e5-b968-00144feabdc0,Authorised=false.html?siteedition=uk&_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2F1c34f6b6-0f75-11e5-b968-00144feabdc0.html%3Fsiteedition%3Duk&_i_referer=&classification=conditional_standard&iab=barrier-app#axzz43pcp7zWX. 
  7. Kharpal, Arjun (5 May 2016). "Azimo, a remittances start-up, raised $15M from Rakuten to expand into Asia". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/05/azimo-a-remittances-start-up-raised-15m-from-rakuten-to-expand-into-asia.html. 
  8. Williams-Grut, Oscar (5 May 2016). "International money transfer app Azimo raises $15 million from Japan's Rakuten to crack Asia". Business Insider UK. http://uk.businessinsider.com/azimo-raises-japan-rakuten-asia-2016-5. 
  9. Lunden, Ingrid (5 May 2016). "Remittance startup Azimo raises $15M from Viber owner, e-commerce giant Rakuten". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/05/azimo-rakuten/. 
  10. Betlem, Rutger (4 February 2020). "Europese investeringsbank steunt uitgeweken Brits bedrijf Azimo" (in nl). Het Financieele Dagblad. https://fd.nl/beurs/1333321/europese-investeringsbank-steunt-uitgeweken-brits-bedrijf-azimo. 
  11. Du Pré, Raoul. "Groeiend aantal bedrijven komt wegens brexit naar Nederland" (in nl). Nederlands Dagblad. https://www.nd.nl/nieuws/nederland/535047/groeiend-aantal-bedrijven-komt-wegens-brexit-naar-nederland. 
  12. Wall, Matthew (March 23, 2015). "Money may make the world go round, but at what cost?". BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31639262. Retrieved 4 May 2016. 
  13. Ginige, J. A.; Maeder, A. J. (2018-10-18) (in en). Transforming Healthcare Through Innovation in Digital Health: Selected Papers from Global Telehealth 2018. IOS Press. ISBN 978-1-61499-914-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=irh9DwAAQBAJ&dq=In+2016,+an+updated+version+of+its+app+was+launched+with+features+including+in-app+chat+and+biometric+security.&pg=PA59.