Remitly, the emerging mobile money transfer service that allows immigrants in the U.S. to send money home securely, more easily, and affordably announced that it completed its first close of a $5.5m Series A round led by QED.
Matt Oppenheimer, Remitly co-founder and CEO said, "We're excited about QED's financial technology, operational, and marketing expertise. They share our vision to evolve the remittance industry by building the best mobile remittance platform, one that streamlines the process and makes it more affordable for people to send money." QED Investors is a leading financial technology venture capital firm whose partners include Nigel Morris, co-founder of Capital One.
Most of Remitly's existing investors participated in the new financing. In addition to QED, Remitly investors include Trilogy Partnership, Founders Co-Op, TomorrowVentures, Bezos Expeditions, and various well-known angel investors.
Oppenheimer started Remitly in 2011 while living in Kenya and running mobile and Internet banking initiatives for Barclays Bank. Oppenheimer states, "I saw first hand that sending money across borders was inconvenient, expensive, and slow. I also saw that everyone had a mobile phone and many used phones for financial services. It was clear that the timing was right for mass disruption of a broken industry." Oppenheimer also stated, "We've assembled the best team in the industry to accomplish this goal."
Remitly's services are currently focused on customers sending money from the USA to the Philippines. Remitly will use the new capital to accelerate global growth. According to the World Bank, over $400 billion is transferred from developed to developing countries each year.
Oppenheimer stated, "We're already helping thousands of customers transfer millions of dollars each month. And we're just getting started."