Airwallex president Lucy Liu on the company’s plans to be ‘IPO-ready’

In a recent interview for the Asia Agenda series, Airwallex president Lucy Liu revealed that the company still aims to be "IPO-ready" by the end of the year. However, she emphasized that the timing is not ideal due to the complexity of the situation. The conversation comes at a time when several large companies, including SpaceX, SK Hynix, and Anthropic, are planning their upcoming IPOs.

The U.S. is not the only market where companies are going public; Shanghai and Hong Kong have also hosted significant IPOs recently. Liu further explained that the company recently completed a $330 million funding round in December, followed by another $320 million in June. Liu explained that the funds are being used to "fast-charge [the] plans" as the company expands into markets like Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, and the U.S. The headquarters of Airwallex, originally based in Australia, has since relocated to Singapore and San Francisco to facilitate its global expansion.

Despite facing scrutiny from Senator Tom Cotton and venture capitalist Keith Rabois, Airwallex's leadership maintains that the accusations are "false" and that their data security practices have been audited by third parties. While waiting for the right time to go public might be a viable strategy, Liu acknowledged that there is a risk in delaying the IPO.

She referenced the examples of Shein and Airtable, both of which experienced significant valuation drops after choosing not to go public.