Event Recap: Startup to Tech Unicorn: A Journey with Co-Founder of Airwallex
On Wednesday 29th July, AustCham Shanghai hosted the Women in Business Committee Breakfast at Airwallex’s office. Airwallex is a financial tech company founded in 2015 that offers integrated solutions for business cross-border transaction. It is the highest-ranked Australia Fintech on KPMG’s top 50 Global Fintechs list of 2019 and also the winner of 2019 Finnie Awards - Excellence in Establishing Global Market Presence.
Lucy Liu, president and co-founder of Airwallex, shared her inspiring story of how her team of five turned into a 450 people team within short span of 5 years. She explains that Airwallex’s mission is to build a global financial infrastructure to scale the digital economy. Airwallex’s first office was in Melbourne and expanded globally in this fast-changing digital world that is increasingly becoming borderless.
The panel discussion also introduced us to Puneet Kukrej, the Chief Officer of Cyber Deloitte China, and Jill Tang, the co-founder of Ladies who Tech. Puneet explains how many businesses come to China to grow and that they must look at data protection and privacy to expand globally. Jill explains how China is product driven and businesses should focus on the local network to grow their business in China. Lucy shares that, as a startup, one valuable resource is your network and relationship with people.
