Online money transfer service WorldRemit today announced that it has raised $100m in a Series B funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), with participation from existing investor Accel Partners.
WorldRemit is a global leader in smartphone and web-based money transfers – providing a convenient, low-cost alternative to expensive brick-and-mortar agents.
The company enables a growing share of the $550bn in remittances sent each year by expatriates and migrant workers to their homelands.
This investment will allow WorldRemit to extend its existing reach of 50 send countries and 117 receive countries, and expand partnerships with Mobile Money wallets operated by telecoms companies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
WorldRemit founder and CEO, Ismail Ahmed said: “I am delighted that TCV is joining WorldRemit in our mission to enable the seamless movement of money between people across borders.
“We have an amazing opportunity to shake-up a stale industry and to save our customers time and money. We are taking money transfers into the mobile age, where people send from apps and receive on Mobile Money services.”
TCV General Partner John Rosenberg said: “The $550bn global remittance market is undergoing significant disruption with a clear shift to online and mobile solutions for international money transfer.
“We are delighted to partner with Ismail and the WorldRemit team, who are at the forefront in offering convenient, low-cost solutions, backed by a market leading technology platform, compliance infrastructure, and geographic footprint”.
The TCV-led Series B round comes less than 12 months after Accel Partners invested $40m in WorldRemit, one of the largest ever Series A rounds in Europe. TCV’s John Rosenberg will join the WorldRemit board.
TCV was advised by William Blair (exclusive financial advisor) and Weil, Gotshal & Manges (legal) in this transaction.
WorldRemit was founded in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, a remittance specialist and former compliance advisor to the United Nations. Personal experience of using money transfer agents convinced Ismail that technology could improve the sending process, enhance compliance and reduce costs to the customer.
In addition to offering bank deposit and cash pick-up options, WorldRemit is the leading provider of instant transfers to Mobile Money wallets. In January 2015, the company announced a partnership with telecoms giant MTN, enabling transfers to all 16 of the company’s Mobile Money services.
African Eye News.com
