Impact investors and financial institutions come together to back global digital remittance service
SEATTLE – July 10th 2019: Remitly, the online international money transfer service, is announcing $220 million of new financing, helping to expand its customer base worldwide.
The fundraising includes $135 million Series E equity and $85 million syndicated debt financing. The equity component is led by Generation Investment Management, whose mission-driven investment philosophy focuses on high performing businesses that promote sustainability and financial inclusion. Other participants in the equity portion are Owl Rock Capital, Princeville Global, Prudential Financial, Schroders, and Top Tier Capital Partners, alongside Remitly’s existing investors, including DN Capital, Naspers’ PayU, and Stripes Group. Debt financing comes from Barclays, Bridge Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Valley Bank acted as administrative agent and lead arranger.
The investment is yet another signal of Remitly’s momentum. Over the past year the service has expanded to 16 send and 44 receive countries. Annual revenue growth was close to 100% for each of the past three years. “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. They share our belief that it is possible to do good while building a strong, sustainable business” said Remitly CEO and co-founder Matt Oppenheimer.
“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.”
Generation’s investment comes from its $1 billion Sustainable Solutions Fund. Lucia Rigo – Director in Growth Equity at Generation – joins the Remitly board. She said: “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”.
“Their organic growth, generated in recent years, is a testament to their impact. We look forward to partnering with the Remitly team to further accelerate their business and make essential financial services more inclusive.”
Remitly has growth teams based around the world, with major offices in London, Manila and Managua. The latest round of financing will help to extend and deepen the company’s presence internationally, and to bring the service to many more countries.
Remitly is also investing in new businesses beyond remittances, in line with its goal of bringing the highest quality financial services to everyone.
About Remitly
Remitly is an independent digital remittance company that transfers over $6 billion in annualized volume through its proprietary global money transfer network across Africa, Asia, Central Europe, Central and South America. Its reliable and easy-to-use mobile app makes the process of sending money faster, easier, more transparent and less costly by eliminating the forms, codes, agents, extra time and fees typical of the traditional, century-old money transfer process. Remitly is backed by industry-leading investors, DN Capital, Generation Investment Management, Naspers’ PayU, Owl Rock Capital, Princeville Global, Prudential Financial, QED Investors, Schroders, Silicon Valley Bank, Stripes Group, Threshold Ventures (formerly DFJ Venture), Top Tier Capital Partners, Trilogy Equity Partners, Bezos Expeditions, Founders’ Co-Op, and Tomorrow Ventures. The company is headquartered in Seattle, with additional offices in London, the Philippines, and Nicaragua. For more information visit Remitly.com.
About DN Capital
DN Capital is a leading early stage venture capital firm which focuses on Seed, Series A and select series B investments in marketplaces, software, fintech, consumer internet and digital health companies. The firm was founded in 2000 and has operations in London, Berlin and Silicon Valley. DN Capital’s previous funds are top performers and the firm is one of the lead investors in companies such as Endeca (sold to Oracle), Shazam (one of the world’s leading mobile apps, sold to Apple), Auto1 (Europe’s largest used-car marketplace), Purplebricks (IPO London), OLX (sold to Naspers), Remitly (North America’s largest independent digital remittance platform) and Quandoo (sold to Recruit). The professionals at DN Capital bring over 75 years of private equity experience to their investments, and actively work with portfolio companies to steward their growth through the various stages of development.
