LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.
Notes for media:
- 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.
- Customers can also send mobile airtime top-ups. More than 50% of all WorldRemit transfers to Africa are currently received as Mobile Money or mobile airtime top-up.
- WorldRemit’s London headquarters have grown from around 40 staff in early 2014, to its current headcount of more than 150. Denver, Colorado was unveiled as WorldRemit’s U.S. base in December 2014, with plans to recruit more than 200 staff.
- WorldRemit is a member of the Future Fifty, a group of high-growth technology companies, and part of the Tech City UK organization.
About WorldRemit
WorldRemit is an online service that lets people send money to friends and family in other countries.
Customers can use WorldRemit anytime, anywhere on their smartphone, tablet or computer.
For those receiving money, WorldRemit offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection, Mobile Money, and mobile airtime top-up.
With low fees and guaranteed exchange rates, WorldRemit is bringing fair, transparent pricing to the money transfer industry.
The service is available in 50 countries and sends to 117 receive countries.
WorldRemit’s global headquarters are in London, UK with regional offices in the USA, Canada and Australia.
WorldRemit media images available at this link.
About TCV
Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), founded in 1995, is a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. With nearly $10 billion in capital raised, TCV has invested in more than 200 technology companies over the last 20 years.
Selected investments include Altiris, C|NET, ExactTarget, Expedia, Facebook, Fandango, FX Alliance, GoDaddy, Genesys Software, HomeAway, Netflix, NewVoiceMedia, RealNetworks, Redback Networks, RiskMetrics Group, Sitecore, Splunk, Spotify, Thinkorswim, VICE Media, and Zillow.
TCV is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, visit www.tcv.com.
Media contact: shifali@kineticprllc.com
About Accel Partners
Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, New York City, London and Bangalore.
Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including Alfresco, Angry Birds (Rovio), Atlassian, Cloudera, ComScore, Dropbox, Facebook, Gameforge, Groupon, Imperva, Kayak, Nimble Storage, Playfish, QlikTech, Spotify, Supercell and Varonis.
For more information, please visit the Accel Partners web site at www.accel.com. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.
