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With a valuation of US$11 billion, this super unicorn wants to help startups go global from Day 0
2 min read
Source: 36氪
At three o'clock in the morning, a newly established AI startup may be already serving customers in San Francisco, procuring technical services in Seoul, and signing contracts with partners in Lagos. The company hasn’t even hired its first full-time finance person, but its business already spans multiple markets, currencies and regulatory jurisdictions. AI is making such entrepreneurial paths possible. In the past, a set of global teams such as marketing, operations, and customer service were required to complete a considerable part of the work, which can now be done with the help of intelligent agents. The new generation of start-ups no longer need to expand in the traditional order of "first establishing a foothold in the local market and then gradually going overseas", but may directly face global customers and suppliers from the first day of establishment. But when AI moves ahead fast enough, most companies’ financial pipelines won’t be ready. This is why the world's top capital has begun to bet on the AI reconstruction of financial infrastructure. In June 2025, the global financial infrastructure platform Airwallex announced the completion of a US$320 million Series H financing, with a valuation of US$11 billion, a significant jump from US$8 billion half a year ago. This round of financing was led by old shareholder Addition, with participation from existing and new investors such as Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price, and Amex Ventures. This financing also sends a clear signal: the AI economy needs a matching financial operating system, and Kongkong Yunhui is one of the few players that has a global compliance base and is actively reconstructing this system. Smart Brain, Paralyzed Wallet A gap visible to the naked eye is forming between the explosion of AI capabilities and the lag of financial infrastructure. In the past, the role of AI was more like an advisor. It tells humans what to buy, who to pay, and which route to take; and now, AI agents are becoming the executors. Whether it is purchasing computing power, subscribing to SaaS services, or completing payments to overseas suppliers, more and more business actions are beginning to be initiated independently by AI. A report released by Forrester, a global market research organization, states that between 2024 and 2025