- Mixture of equity and debt financing will help Remitly to expand even further
- Names such as Barclays, Owl Rock Capital and more are involved in the round
- “This fundraising round will help us deliver better financial products to even more customers around the globe”, says founder
The online money transfer service Remitly has announced that it has received a finance round of $220 million as part of ambitious expansion plans.
Funding will come from a number of sources. $135 million will come from Series E equity, while a further $85 million will be syndicated debt.
The main provider of the cash will be Generation Investment Management, an investor which looks specifically at longitudinal performance over time.
Other big names in the equity side of the arrangement include Princeville Global, Owl Rock Capital and Prudential Financial.
Debt, meanwhile, will come from Goldman Sachs, Barclays and elsewhere.
Remitly, which was set up in 2011, has seen strong growth in recent years. Milestones in the last twelve months alone have included an expansion to the point where customers can send cash to 16 nations and receive it in 44.
According to Remitly’s founder Matt Oppenheimer, who last week was named one of the World Economic Forum’s technology pioneers, the move would help “deliver better financial products”.
“It says something very powerful about Remitly’s mission and prospects, to have such an impressive roster of investors participating in our Series E round”, he said.
“They share our belief that it is possible to do good while building a strong, sustainable business.”
“We are transforming the way that people send money home, bringing convenience, savings, security and new levels of customer service to an underserved community.
“At the same time, our business has been close to doubling year-on-year. This fundraising round will help us deliver better financial products to even more customers around the globe”, he added.
For Generation Investment Management, Lucia Rigo – who is Director in Growth Equity at Generation, and who will take a seat on Remitly’s board as a result of the investment round – described Remitly as a “digital-first product” with “deep passion”.
“We believe that the best businesses are those accelerating the transition to a sustainable economy. Remitly has approached their digital-first product with a deep passion for the customers they serve, and a commitment to improving transparency and efficiency in cross-border money transfer”, she said.
The decision of many major investment vehicles to back Remitly, one of the world’s most well-known cross-border payments start-ups, is a major vote of confidence in this sector. It’s the variety and size that matters here: while watchers of this industry are used to seeing investment deals here and there, a mixture of equity and debt financing which is upwards of $200 million in value doesn’t come around often. It’s another feather in Remitly’s cap, and one that is likely to help the firm develop more quickly in the future.
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