Airwallex CEO & Co-Founder, Jack Zhang: The Angel That Turned $1M into $1BN

Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang rejected Stripe’s $1.2B acquisition offer and grew to $700M ARR at 90% YoY growth, describing a decade of near-death fundraising moments.

• Zhang’s first angel investor wired $1M to his personal account with no paperwork signed, turning that into ~$1B on Airwallex’s $9B valuation.
• Airwallex rejected Stripe’s $1.2B acquisition offer when revenue was only $2M; Zhang now says he would not do another startup at 38.
• Revenue grew from $2M (2018) to $10M (2019) to $20M (2020), never growing below 100% YoY from 2015 to 2023.
• ARR hit $500M in August 2024, $600M in November, $700M in January 2025, with 90% growth last quarter.
• Softbank’s WeWork fallout killed a near-certain lead round in 2019; DST and Tencent provided a $70-100M convertible lifeline.
• Zhang burned close to $200M/year after raising $100M post-Stripe rejection, with no budget and headcount spiking from ~100 to 600-700 in one year.
• Zhang is personally taking on $70M in debt to buy Airwallex secondary shares, alongside co-founders, citing conviction in the company.
• International expansion pre-product-market-fit was the biggest strategic mistake; UK took three years to reach PMF.

2025-05-26 · Watch on YouTube