Money Transfer Star Remitly Chooses FT Partners for $115M Capital Raise

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Marisa Fasciano
Content Specialist
Marisa is a communications consultant based in New York with a background in social research, diversity education, and nonprofit development.  She has lived and traveled abroad extensively… Read more

Fintech Investment Firm Brings Dealmaking Prowess to the Table

FT Partners just announced that it has once again been chosen to help the standout mobile remittance company Remitly raise capital.  The investment bank, which specializes in fintechs and advises key players in the cross-border payments space, will serve as the exclusive strategic and financial advisor to Remitly on its $115 million Series D financing.  It played the same role in the prior $38.5 million Series C round.

Founded in 2001, FT Partners has earned numerous industry distinctions, such as the "2016 Investment Banking Firm of the Year" and the “2015 Dealmaker of the Year” from The M & A Advisor.  Successful deals on which it has advised international money transfer providers include OFX’s $500 million sale/IPO and Azimo’s $20 million capital raise, as well as Currencies Direct’s sale to Palamon Capital Partners and Corsair Capital for over $310 million.  (Learn more about these money transfer companies.)

Remitly’s Series D round will be led by PayU, a division of the Naspers global internet and entertainment group. Naspers ranks among the biggest technology investors worldwide, with stakes in internet giants like Flipkart and Tencent.  PayU is a top financial services provider that focuses on growth markets and takes a local approach.  It helps hundreds of thousands of merchants and millions of consumers to buy, sell, and send money online.  Through its substantial investment in Remitly and the sharing of its expertise (PayU CEO Laurent Le Moal is slated to join Remitly’s board), PayU can help Remitly expand its global reach and further accelerate its rapid growth.  Other participants in the Series D financing include existing investors, Stripes Group, DFJ and DN Capital.

A Winning Formula for the International Money Transfer Space

In FT Partners’ report entitled Global Money Transfers – Emerging Trends and Challenges, Remitly Co-Founder and CEO Matt Oppenheimer attributes his company’s success to its mobile-first strategy and its focus on only the largest remittance corridors.  “While other companies measure their success by the number of countries they serve, that is a “vanity metric” – it’s easy to get into a lot of different markets by working with an aggregator.  We’ve instead focused on building a great customer experience to send money from the U.S., Canada, and the UK to the Philippines, India, Mexico and seven of the other largest receive markets.”

 

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Oppenheimer first came up with the idea for Remitly when he was working for Barclays Bank in Nairobi, Kenya.  There he saw firsthand how challenging it was for people to receive money from other countries, so he moved stateside and began addressing the problem as Entrepreneur in Residence at a VC firm in Idaho.  He later moved operations to Seattle to participate in a startup accelerator program and eventually grew Remitly into the largest independent digital remittance firm on the continent.  

On an annual basis, Remitly processes 5 million transactions and transfers over $4 billion from customers in the US, UK, and Canada to their loved ones all over the world.  Its user-friendly mobile app lets customers send money from a bank account, debit card, or credit card to a foreign account or cash pickup location.  (Compare the best international money transfer apps.)  Oppenheimer believes that his winning formula will keep propelling the company forward:  “We’re in a great position because we have the best product, a proven playbook of rolling it out in the most competitive markets across the globe and most of the world still available to enter and serve as we continue to expand.” Remitly have an app available in both the App store and the Play store

 

 


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