P2P currency exchange CurrencyFair raises €8m in funding to expand leadership team as it sets sights on global takeover

Leading peer-to-peer currency exchange startup, CurrencyFair, has completed an €8m funding round lead by existing investors Octopus Ventures and Frontline Ventures. 

The Dublin based business also announced the appointment of Paul Byrne as the new CEO, and Ruth Fletcher as CFO. Both of these positions will be subject to regulatory approval by Irish financial regulators. Sylvie McDermott has joined as Chief Product Officer (CPO), while founder Brett Meyers is now the Chief Strategy Officer for the newly expanded leadership team.

Meyers said, “I am delighted that, after an extensive recruitment process that we began in 2015, CurrencyFair now has a complete, highly experienced and high-calibre management team in place that will drive us all forward in the next phase of our growth.

There is a huge opportunity for our unique service in a global market for both consumers and SMEs, and we are now primed to take advantage of that.”

Byrne is something of a boon for CurrencyFair. Joining the business with 15 years of CEO experience, Byrne was CEO and owner of Trintech, where he launched and grew Cadency, an SaaS financial product to nearly 200,000 paid users globally over four years, prior to selling the company and relocating full time to Ireland.

“CurrencyFair demonstrated the scalability and power of its unique peer-to-peer currency exchange during the Brexit result volatility, where CurrencyFair stayed open while many major competitors closed,” Byrne said.

“Continued global currency volatility, as the US election result just demonstrated, will drive continued growth for CurrencyFair as consumers and businesses take a more proactive role in seeking more transparent lower cost currency exchange alternatives.

“I am very excited about the opportunity to be part of CurrencyFair’s dynamic global growth and to work with a very talented team to execute our transparent approach to currency exchange.”

Previously, new CFO Fletcher co-led the spinout of Fenergo from Ergo and the subsequent recapitalisation by Insight Venture Partners and Aquiline Capital Partners for €85m in 2015. With specific experience in scaling high-growth international software business from startup to maturity, she will drive financial development for CurrencyFair.

Similarly, McDermott – the new CPO – brings over 16 years of leadership and product strategy experience in a B2C & B2B environment to the position. Formally group product director at Betfair, she has developed deep domain expertise in mobile and online product development and will lead a customer driven approach to product strategy for CurrencyFair.

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