Wise.com Biography & Web Analysis

Wise (previously TransferWise) is a financial technology company based in London that was launched in January 2011 by Estonian businesspeople Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus.
Wise was founded by Skype's first employee, Taavet Hinrikus, and financial consultant Kristo Käärmann. Its system has been compared to the hawala system of money transfer.
Wise handled €10 million in transactions in its first year of operation.
Wise was named to The Guardian's list of "East London's 20 hottest tech startups" in 2012, Wired UK's Start Up of the Week, TechCrunch's list of five "start-ups to watch" during Seedcamp's 2012 US Demo Day, and Startups.co.uk's list of the top 100 UK start-ups in 2012.

Wise ceased allowing users to buy Bitcoin in April 2013, claiming pressure from banks.  [untrustworthy source?] Wise was on average 83 percent cheaper than the top four UK banks on major currency "routes," according to independent comparison site Monito, but could be up to 90 percent cheaper in some situations.
Wise was named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer in August 2015, and it was ranked No. 8 on CNBC's 2015 Disruptor 50 list in May 2015.
According to an internal memo from British bank Santander dated April 8, 2017, if its money transfer fees were the same as Wise's, the bank would lose 84 percent of its revenue. 

The company also announced the opening of its APAC hub in Singapore in April 2017. [20] The company announced the creation of a Brussels office in 2019.  Customers were shipping over £1 billion each month using the service in May 2017, and the company has turned profitable six years after it was launched, according to the company.
Wise had chosen Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint global co-ordinators for its proposed initial public offering, according to Sky News on January 21, 2021.
 The corporation changed its name from TransferWise to Wise on February 22, 2021.  The company also announced a new website domain as part of the rebranding.  The company changed its name to reflect its enlarged product offering, which now includes more than just international money transfers.

In a prospectus published by the company on July 2, 2021, it was revealed that co-founder Taavet Hinrikus will stand down as chair within a year.  David Wells will take his place in this post, it was also stated.

Wise went public on the London Stock Exchange on July 7, 2021, with a market capitalization of $11 billion.