CROSSNET: A Spike in Success with Airwallex

Ready. Set. Sales

Launched in 2019 by childhood friends Chris Meade, Gregory Meade, and Mike Delpapa, CROSSNET's unique product quickly gained popularity and $25 million in revenue. The game, blending elements of Four Square and volleyball, has become a household favourite, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We were always big on backyard sports,” Meade shared. “Time away from technology is important, and that's resonated with families.” 

Four years later, the CROSSNET team is already expanding its product line, partnering with celebrities and pitching the game as an international sport. CROSSNET's remarkable innovation and rapid growth journey underscores the importance of efficient financial management and strategic partnerships. As they continue to expand, CROSSNET is well-prepared for future success, thanks to their commitment to efficiency and the invaluable support of Airwallex.

Chris Meade

Co-Founder

"Airwallex will be a game changer for CROSSNET as we expand into more and more international markets.”

The challenge of rapid growth

Initially operating with a lean team, CROSSNET’s success led to surging demand, international sales, and complex financial landscapes. Managing finances, eliminating hidden transfer fees, and avoiding excessive foreign exchange rates became essential to growing the business. The operational intricacies involved in coordinating a global supply chain also became a significant aspect of their growth challenges. 

Meade reflects, "Three or four months ago, we started making cuts across the board. We were losing money internationally.” He went on to share that they were spending nearly $50 on transaction fees, close to 10 times a week for countless bills. “Every time we sent money to our manufacturer, we were paying for freight, paying our Canadian and Australian third-party logistics companies and paying random vendors. Those transaction fees were eating up our funds." CROSSNET needed a comprehensive solution to streamline financial operations and centralise monthly payments.

Airwallex: a game-changer in financial operations

CROSSNET found a defensive ally in Airwallex’s unified global payment platform. They experienced a paradigm shift in their finance management processes. More specifically, Airwallex has become instrumental in ensuring a seamless, time-saving global payment experience.

Chris Meade

Co-Founder

“We now load up Airwallex once a month and make all our payments through their platform”

By centralising monthly payments across the globe, CROSSNET scored immediate and substantial savings. Airwallex's streamlined foreign exchange services prevented currency conversion losses, resulting in savings that could double as the company expands internationally. “We expect to save $2000+ a month in annoying fees, an extra $24k in savings to the bottom line.”

Reflecting on the impact of Airwallex on their international sales, Meade added, "If you’re selling into international markets like us, I found out that PayPal and Amazon have been auto-converting Canadian and Australian currency into USD, and we’ve been getting burned daily. Now, rather than our foreign money auto-converting and flowing into our US-based Bank of America account daily, our international sales flow into our global Airwallex accounts and are converted into USD at a fraction of the costs. A typical FX fee charged by Amazon or PayPal is 3%, so if we do $2M annually in Canada and Australia, you save an extra $50,000 on your bottom line."

Scaling success on four quadrants

Chris Meade also had valuable advice to share with anyone looking to expand their business. “If you wouldn’t spend the money from your own business account, don’t do it with the company account. Be a bit more slow, a bit more cautious. I thought we’d get Australia up in three months, but it took a year of planning. A lot of friends and partners have made the mistake of being overstocked. It takes time to mature a market. Start small. Build for a longer time frame than for the immediate need."

As for Airwallex, Meade is glad to have us on his team. In months to come, he’ll be working with our Credit Risk Ops team to get CROSSNET on our Payment Acceptance beta. "Airwallex will be a game changer for CROSSNET as we expand into more and more international markets. After five years, we just launched CROSSNET ads in Europe, and the results have been super impressive (for our bottom line). Expanding our business internationally was one of the best decisions we ever made and something I wish we didn’t wait years to do."

About CROSSNET

CROSSNET has transformed backyard sports on a global scale with its innovative four-way volleyball net—and Airwallex is a proud team player. We sat down with CROSSNET co-founder Chris Meade to hear his advice on starting a business and streamlining international expansion. "If 2023 has taught us anything,” Meade shared, “it’s that we as business owners need to take a deeper look under the hood of our businesses. Airwallex has been a perfect solution for that."

Today, CROSSNET serves over 57 countries, 1,000 shops, 10,000 gym classes, and a million players worldwide.