UPDATED 23:19 EDT / OCTOBER 02 2016

NEWS

Fintech P2P mobile payments startup Remitly raises $38 million

Person-to-person (P2P) mobile payments startup Remitly Inc. has raised $38 million in a mix of new equity and debt financing from IFC and Silicon Valley Bank.

Founded in 2011, Remitly offers a mobile payments service that enables consumers to make P2P international money transfers from the United States and Canada to people located in Asia, Central America and South America. The company’s platform aims to make transfers as easy as possible by eliminating forms, codes, agents, extra time, and fees tied to the traditional money transfer process.

Remitly is licensed as a money transmitter currently operating in 49 US states and Canada, sending millions of dollars for thousands of customers each month. It’s catering to an ever-increasing demand from migrants working in the United States and Canada who wish to send money home to their families, a market that saw transferred funds topping $600 billion last year.

That process has often been slow and expensive and has lacked transparency. Many recipients may have little or no access to traditional banking services, whereas Remitly says it makes sending money faster, easier, more transparent and less costly through its proprietary global transfer network and mobile app.

“Remitly’s mission is perfectly aligned with IFC’s long-standing objective of helping the private sector find solutions that benefit the world’s poor,” IFC Fintech investments lead Kai Schmitz said in a statement. “Transfers by migrants to their home countries is a proven way to improve the lives of families and support emerging market economies. The World Bank is actively working with the G20 and other partners to increase choice for senders and lower the cost of remittances.”

After having successfully added support for payments to Mexico in 2015, Remity has recently added support for payments to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru, alongside its original payments services to the Philippines and India.

Including the new round, Remitly has raised $100 million to date from investors including DFJ, DN Capital, QED Investors, Trilogy Equity Partners, Founders Coop and Techstars. The company said it would use the new funds to expand its ability to deliver international fund transfers.

Image credit: Remitly

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