Azimo Explained

Azimo
Type:	Private company
Industry:	Financial technology
Founded:	2012
Founders:	Michael Kent, Marta Krupinska, Ricky Knox, Marek Wawro
Hq Location City:	Amsterdam
Hq Location Country:	Netherlands
Area Served:	Europe (sending); worldwide (receiving)
Key People:	Michael Kent (Founder, EC) Richard Ambrose (CEO)
Services:	Money transfer
Owners:	-->
Website:	azimo.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–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

Notes and References

1. News: Azimo offers a cheaper way to send money home. The Washington Post. 4 May 2016. 24 November 2014.
2. Web site: Wall. Matthew. Money may make the world go round, but at what cost?. BBC News. 4 May 2016. 23 March 2015.
3. Web site: April 2022 . 4th . 2022-04-04 . Money transfer app Azimo acquired by Papaya Global . 2022-04-05 . FinTech Futures . en-GB.
4. Web site: Lunn, Emma. Collinson, Patrick. 10 of the best money-saving apps. The Guardian. 4 May 2016. 12 April 2013.
5. Web site: 20 October 2016. Azimo Launches New Version Of Mobile App. 22 December 2020. Pymnts.com. en-US.
6. Web site: Ahmed. Murad. Remittances group Azimo raises $20m on valuation of $100m. Financial Times. 4 May 2016.
7. Web site: Kharpal. Arjun. Azimo, a remittances start-up, raised $15M from Rakuten to expand into Asia. CNBC. 5 May 2016. 5 May 2016.
8. Web site: Williams-Grut. Oscar. International money transfer app Azimo raises $15 million from Japan's Rakuten to crack Asia. Business Insider UK. 5 May 2016. 5 May 2016.
9. Web site: Lunden. Ingrid. Remittance startup Azimo raises $15M from Viber owner, e-commerce giant Rakuten. TechCrunch. 5 May 2016. 5 May 2016.
10. News: Europese investeringsbank steunt uitgeweken Brits bedrijf Azimo. Het Financieele Dagblad. nl. Rutger. Betlem. 4 February 2020. 2 February 2021.
11. News: Groeiend aantal bedrijven komt wegens brexit naar Nederland. nl. Nederlands Dagblad. Raoul. Du Pré.
12. Web site: Wall. Matthew. Money may make the world go round, but at what cost?. BBC News. 4 May 2016. March 23, 2015.
13. Book: Ginige . J. A. . Transforming Healthcare Through Innovation in Digital Health: Selected Papers from Global Telehealth 2018 . Maeder . A. J. . 2018-10-18 . IOS Press . 978-1-61499-914-0 . en.