<div>Former Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit has taken a stake in London-based currency transfer startup Transferwise, adding to his portfolio of financial technology investments.</div><div> </div><div>"Thrilled to welcome Vikram Pandit, previously CEO of Citi to join TransferWise as an investor," Transferwise co-founder Kristo Kaarmann tweeted on Tuesday.</div><div> </div><div>Transferwise said Pandit invested during its $58 million fundraising in January, but it declined to say how much he put in.</div><div> </div><div>That fundraising valued the four-year-old online money transfer group at about $1 billion. Other investors include Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and British billionaire Richard Branson.</div><div> </div><div>Transferwise said this year's fundraising helped it expand globally, including opening U.S. offices. It plans to launch in Australia in the next few months, and now has 400 staff.</div><div> </div><div>Pandit was Citigroup CEO from 2007 and steered it through the financial crisis until he resigned in October 2012.</div><div> </div><div>He has previously invested in Orchard, which helps institutional investors buy loans originated by marketplace lenders; Dataminr, which analyses tweets and other data to alert finance professionals; bitcoin payment processor Coinbase; and online student lender CommonBond.<br><br>(Reuters)</div>
