Taavet Hinrikus
Estonian entrepreneur and investor; co-founder of TransferWise (now Wise), Skype's first employee, and co-founder of European VC firm Plural.
Taavet Hinrikus began his career as Skype's first employee in 2003, rising to Director of Strategy before the company's 2005/2008 acquisition process concluded. In 2011 he co-founded TransferWise (rebranded Wise in 2021) in London with Kristo Kaarmann, after being frustrated by the cost of moving money between the UK and Estonia. He served as CEO of TransferWise until July 2017, when he handed the role to Kaarmann and became Chairman; Wise listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2021, and Hinrikus stepped down as Chairman and director in December 2021 while remaining a co-founder. He has also been an active angel investor, with more than 100 startup investments across Europe including Bolt, Zego, and Veriff. In June 2022 he co-founded Plural, a European early-stage venture capital platform, together with Khaled Helioui (ex-Bigpoint CEO), Ian Hogarth (Songkick), and Sten Tamkivi (Teleport/Skype), where he is a Partner.
Overview
- Role
- Co-Founder & Partner, Plural
- Based in
- London, United Kingdom
- Prior experience
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Frequently asked
- Who is Taavet Hinrikus?
- Taavet Hinrikus began his career as Skype's first employee in 2003, rising to Director of Strategy before the company's 2005/2008 acquisition process concluded. In 2011 he co-founded TransferWise (rebranded Wise in 2021) in London with Kristo Kaarmann, after being frustrated by the cost of moving money between the UK and Estonia. He served as CEO of TransferWise until July 2017, when he handed the role to Kaarmann and became Chairman; Wise listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2021, and Hinrikus stepped down as Chairman and director in December 2021 while remaining a co-founder. He has also been an active angel investor, with more than 100 startup investments across Europe including Bolt, Zego, and Veriff. In June 2022 he co-founded Plural, a European early-stage venture capital platform, together with Khaled Helioui (ex-Bigpoint CEO), Ian Hogarth (Songkick), and Sten Tamkivi (Teleport/Skype), where he is a Partner.
- What is Taavet Hinrikus's role?
- Taavet Hinrikus is Co-Founder & Partner, Plural, based in London, United Kingdom.
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Sources & citations4
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- 1
Hinrikus was Skype's first employee and served as CEO of TransferWise until stepping down in July 2017 to become Chairman, handing the CEO role to co-founder Kristo Kaarmann.
TechCrunch: Taavet Hinrikus hands over CEO reins at TransferWise to cofounder Kristo KaarmannReported2017-07-18 - 2
Hinrikus stepped down as Wise Chairman and director in December 2021, replaced by David Wells, while retaining his co-founder status.
UKTN (UK Tech News): Wise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus steps down as chairmanReported2021-12-10 - 3
Plural, the VC fund founded by Taavet Hinrikus, Sten Tamkivi, Ian Hogarth, and Khaled Helioui, raised a 32M/€400M second fund, announced January 2024.
TechCrunch: Plural, the VC led by founders, pulls together a new $432M fund to back European startupsReported2024-01-22 - 4
TransferWise was founded in 2011 by Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo Kaarmann in London; Hinrikus was previously Skype's Director of Strategy and first employee.
Founders Pledge: Taavet Hinrikus & Silvia FantauzziReported2026-08-15