WeSwap
 | |
| Available in | Multilingual |
|---|---|
| Founded | March 3, 2011 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Founder(s) | Jared Jesner, Simon Sacerdoti |
| Services | Travel money |
| Employees | 20+ (2015) |
| Slogan(s) | "The people's currency exchange" |
| Website | www.weswap.com |
| Registration | Yes |
| Launched | July 2013 |
| Current status | Active |
WeSwap is a peer-to-peer currency exchange platform.[1] WeSwap matches travellers heading in opposite directions and swaps their travel money directly.[2] The London-based startup was launched in 2013 by Jared Jesner and Simon Sacerdoti and currently supports 18 different currencies around the world.[3]
History
The WeSwap idea first stemmed from founder Jared Jesner’s experiences as a city trader at JP Morgan:[4] “I saw first hand the amazing rates that banks can change money at... but there was no way for consumers to access that same rate.”.[5] He went on to work for Shell, where his exposure to the world of payments inspired the idea to partner with a prepaid card provider as the delivery mechanism for the service.[6] At Shell he was also introduced to corporate finance adviser Simon Sacerdoti, whose experience enabled them to start commercialising the idea and together they co-founded the service.[7] At launch, the service supported 6 currencies.[8] In 2014, WeSwap was serving customers from across 10 European countries and supported 18 currencies.[3]
Investors
Seed funding came from a mixture of high net worth angel investors and super angels.,[4] including LoveFilm and Zoopla co-founder Alex Chesterman.[9] In October 2014, one year after launching, WeSwap secured another £4.5m in Series A funding.[10] This was led and structured by IW Capital and supported by EC1 Capital along with the investors who had helped to raise £1.2m in seed funds.[11]
Awards
In January 2015, WeSwap won the 'Innovation in Travel Award' at the Globe Travel Awards.[12] Commercial director of Travelport, Paul Broughton, who presented the trophy said: "Our winner showed the most potential for disrupting its marketplace and changing how business is done." [2]
Notes and References
- ↑ "Currency exchange goes social with WeSwap's person-to-person service". Telegraph.co.uk. 14 January 2014.
- 1 2 "WeSwap seeks industry partners for pioneering peer-to-peer currency exchange". travolution.com.
- 1 2 "WeSwap review: crowdsourcing your travel currency". ShinyShiny.
- 1 2 Haymarket Business Interactive. "'Failure is good. It's a great way to learn' - Jared Jesner, WeSwap". managementtoday.co.uk.
- ↑ "Currency exchange rates slashed with WeSwap - SME case studies - Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. 2 June 2014.
- ↑ "The Ones to Watch: Jared Jesner and Simon Sacerdoti, WeSwap (peer-to-peer currency swapping)". BusinessZone.
- ↑ "Startup pitch: WeSwap aims to disrupt the currency exchange market with P2P platform". Tnooz.
- ↑ "New take on currency exchange with person to person online service". expatsblog.com.
- ↑ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6b4fe5a0-bc21-11e4-b6ec-00144feab7de.html#axzz3hGoJDJny
- ↑ "Peer-to-peer money exchange service WeSwap raises $7.5m". Startups.co.uk: Starting a business advice and business ideas.
- ↑ "WeSwap raises £4.5m for peer-to-peer currency exchange". Wired UK.
- ↑ "Winners :: Globe Travel Awards 2015". globetravelawards.co.uk.