6. The Currency Cloud

Founder: Nigel Verdon
Founded: January 2012
Website: www.thecurrencycloud.com

If someone in the know was asked about the major challenger brands in the international money exchange market, it’s likely the names Kantox (also making this year’s list), Transferwise, MedBank and Sofort might spring to mind. All of these successful payments firms have one thing in common – their transactions are powered by The Currency Cloud. The start-up operates a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) international currency conversion platform, taking the hassle out of complex international money transfers by offering its clients an all-in-one automated service. Unlike the opaque terms of traditional foreign exchange providers, the ‘Payment Engine’ fully discloses the price the client pays, the market price and the price The Currency Cloud itself pays, offering a level of transparency unrivalled anywhere else on the market.

Since launch, the platform has seen extremely impressive growth – the number of transactions has increased twelvefold year-on-year, and The Currency Cloud now has more than 125 customers facilitating payments for around 50,000 end users. The start-up’s remarkable success has not gone unnoticed by the venture capital community – across 2012, the business raised more than $9m, and in April of this year completed a $10m Series B funding round led by existing investors. Now transacting over $4m monthly, it’s no surprise that The Currency Cloud is our highest new entry!