WeSwap is a

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer n ...

currency exchange platform. WeSwap matches travellers heading in opposite directions and swaps their travel money directly. The

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based

startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...

was launched in 2013 by Jared Jesner and Simon Sacerdoti, and currently supports 18 different currencies around the world.

History

The WeSwap idea first stemmed from founder Jared Jesner's experiences as a city trader at JP Morgan: "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.". He went on to work for

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

, 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. 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. At launch, the service supported 6 currencies. In 2014, WeSwap was serving customers from across 10 European countries and supported 18 currencies. In March 2018, WeSwap launched the ability to spend globally, anywhere the Mastercard symbol is accepted. This is alongside continuing to support 18 swappable currencies.

Investors

Seed funding came from a mixture of high net worth

angel investor An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital for a business or businesses start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or owners ...

s and

super angel Super angel (or "super-angel") was a term used in the early 2010s to describe venture capital investors who had once been angel investors and subsequently raised small venture capital funds. Super angels share some characteristics of both angel inv ...

s., including

LoveFilm LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Acquired by Amazon.com in 2011, the service had reached 2 million subscribers. It claimed ...

and

Zoopla ZPG Ltd. is a British real estate company based in London, England, owned by Silver Lake Partners. Its brands include the property website Zoopla, price comparison service Uswitch, finance comparison website Money.co.uk, personal finance content ...

co-founder Alex Chesterman and

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...

. In October 2014, one year after launching, WeSwap secured another £4.5M in

Series A funding A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...

. 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.

Awards

In January 2015, WeSwap won the 'Innovation in Travel Award' at the Globe Travel Awards. Commercial director of

Travelport Travelport Worldwide Ltd provides distribution, technology, payment solutions for the travel and tourism industry. It is the smallest, by revenue, of the top three global distribution systems (GDS) after Amadeus IT Group and Sabre Corporation. ...

, Paul Broughton, who presented the trophy said: "Our winner showed the most potential for disrupting its marketplace and changing how business is done." In March 2018, WeSwap won the Best Travel Money Provider at the British Bank Awards.

Collapse and Administration

In December 2021, WeSwap became a victim of the global collapse in travel following the Covid-19 pandemic and entered administration. WeSwap’s business and assets were sold in a pre-packaged administration sale to a third party, MKK Finance Limited, a subsidiary of the Blackthorn Finance Group. This pre-pack deal is expected to leave investors more than £20 million out of pocket.

References

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External links