Startup Showcase: Azimo
Marta Krupinska, general manager and co-founder of Azimo, talks about money transfers, Facebook Messenger integration and Brexit
Each week we profile a tech startup, find out more about their business and what its plans are for the future. This week, we spoke to Marta Krupinska, general manager and co-founder of money transfer service Azimo
What is your company and what do you do?
Launched in 2012, Azimo, is an international money transfer service. Fast, simple and safe, we have the largest digital network in the world, allowing customers to send money to over 190 countries, from any internet-connected device.
Set up to drastically change the way people living abroad send money to their family and friends, Azimo is the better way to transfer money around the world. As General Manager and Co-founder, I oversee day-to-day operations, work closely with Michael Kent our CEO, and am responsible for all staffing processes and decisions across the UK and Poland, where I opened Azimo’s second office in 2013.
Tell us a bit about your career to date
I set up my first business, Travelnity, a social media website for travellers and expats before running high-profile events in London and New York for the London 2012 Olympics and Somerset House.In 2012, I met Michael and co-founded Azimo and haven’t looked back. As a Polish expat, I’ve experienced first-hand how challenging it is to send money home – in one case I found it cheaper by a plane ticket and fly to Poland rather than transfer the money!
What services or products do you offer and how will businesses and/or consumers benefit?
When we were setting Azimo, we looked at how international money transfer worked and knew there had to be a better way – one that was cheaper, faster, simpler and easier to understand.
Firstly, our fees are 2 percent or less, which is up to 90 percent lower than the industry average (8-9 percent). On an individual basis, this is great for anyone sending and receiving money, but scale this all up to the size of a community, or a country, and the cumulative effect could be stunning. We want to help people build a better world and it’s why we got started.
Say one thing your company does that no one else can do?
We provide our customers with more options, giving them the freedom to send money the way they want to. We’re the first international money transfer service to integrate with Facebook Messenger, connecting senders and receivers through their Facebook friend list, enabling them to exchange details immediately and links them to the Azimo app to make a transfer, all within a few simple clicks.
Where is the company based and why?
Our HQ is in London and we have offices in Krakow, Poland. As one of the most multicultural cities in the world, we chose to run Azimo from London. And we are not the only ones. The founders of Citymapper, YPlan and Farfetch also moved to the UK, built multi-million dollar businesses and created plenty of jobs along the way.
Undeniably, Europe is a hotbed of talent, with people from across the continent coming to London and bringing skills in technology and engineering, helping to fuel the booming technology sector and make London one of the leading cities globally for technology and innovation.
London is a fantastic place to start a business, from its central location and time zone; it gives companies the ability to work across Europe and other continents with much more ease. In addition to this, it’s crucial for our business that we have access to a single market, talent and a friendly regulatory environment.
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