SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Remitly, the largest independent digital money transmitter in the United States, today announced that it closed a $38.5 million Series C funding round. Stripes Group led this round and was joined by Vulcan Capital, both new investors in Remitly. Existing Remitly investors also contributed to the round including DFJ, DN Capital, Bezos Expeditions and Trilogy Equity Partners, among others. Stripes Group partner Ron Shah will join Remitly’s board of directors as part of the financing. The new capital will be used to grow Remitly’s team and continue the company’s global expansion.
As an important step in expanding Remitly’s global footprint, the company announced today that Remitly is now available to customers in Canada. Canada is home to more than 7.4 million immigrants, many of whom still have family overseas. Residents of Canada transfer more than $23 billion annually, with $2.9 billion going to India and $2.1 billion to the Philippines.
“Since day one our strategy has been to bring our service to the largest addressable remittance markets in the world,” said Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer. “With this new financing, we are able to continue executing against that strategy by building a global footprint in the largest remittance corridors.”
Instead of relying on third-party aggregators, Remitly has built a proprietary network of banks and cash pickup locations to deliver funds quickly and securely overseas. It also has created a scalable core remittance platform that offers the unique ability to reliably deliver on promises to customers residing in the largest remittance markets. Around the world, people send more than $588 billion in remittances every year. According to the World Bank, remittance companies charge an average of nearly 8 percent in fees, while Remitly’s best-in-class digital product enables it to charge a small fraction of that while delivering a fundamentally better customer experience than legacy operators.
Remitly’s efforts to date have proven successful. Its customers are now transferring more than $1 billion annually and the company grew over 400 percent in the first quarter of 2016 compared to the previous year. As Remitly accelerates its global expansion, the company is also introducing a new logo emblematic of its continued focus and commitment toward customers.
“Remitly’s rapid growth in a large and well-defined hundred-year-old market is a great example of how a new generation of companies is using technology and leveraging mobile adoption to deliver better, faster, and more secure solutions to increasingly discerning consumers – all at lower costs,” said Stripes Group partner Ron Shah. “By doing this, Remitly is impacting people’s lives in a significant way and we’re excited to join the team as they continue to expand their global footprint.”
About Remitly
Remitly is a mobile payments service that enables consumers to conveniently make person-to-person international money transfers from the United States and Canada. Its online service uses the latest technology and mobile devices to eliminate the forms, codes, agents, extra time, and fees tied to the traditional money transfer process. Remitly is a licensed money transmitter currently operating in 49 states and Washington, D.C., and sending millions of dollars to thousands of customers each month. A Techstars company, Remitly is backed by Stripes Group, DFJ, Vulcan Capital, QED, Trilogy Equity Partners, DN Capital, Founders Co-Op, Bezos Expeditions and TomorrowVentures. Remitly is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, with additional offices in the Philippines. For more information on Remitly, please visit www.remitly.com.
About Stripes Group
Based in New York City, Stripes Group is a leading growth equity firm that invests in Internet, Digital Media, Software and Branded Consumer Products businesses around the world. For over a decade, Stripes Group has been partnering with market-leading companies with proven business models that are generating exceptional growth. For more information on Stripes Group, please visit www.stripesgroup.com.
About FT Partners
Financial Technology Partners served as exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Remitly on this transaction. FT Partners is the only investment banking firm focused exclusively on providing strategic and financial advisory services to clients and CEOs in the dynamic global financial services and technology sector. For additional information, please visit www.ftpartners.com.