Remitly Raises $38 Million, Expanding Into Seven Countries

Remitly, the independent mobile remittance company based in the United States, announced on Tuesday (Oct. 4) it received $38 million in new equity and debt financing from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Silicon Valley Bank. The financing will help the company expand its ability to deliver international fund transfers quickly, efficiently and at a low cost to consumers.

“Remitly is driving important innovation in the peer-to-peer global payments arena,” said Minh Le, market manager for Silicon Valley Bank’s Washington and Western Canada region, in a press release. “It is our pleasure to play a part in supporting Remitly’s growth during this exciting time of expansion.”

In conjunction with the announcement, Remitly also announced it’s expanding into seven countries throughout Central and South America, where it said international remittances are contributing to the regional economy.

As the global economy becomes more connected, Remitly said migrants around the world are looking for new ways to transfer money to their loved ones — a flow of funds that topped $600 billion last year. Historically, the remittance process has been slow, expensive and lacked transparency, leaving customers in the dark, not knowing when their recipient will receive the money. Remitly said its proprietary global transfer network, enabled by its mobile app, makes sending money faster, easier, more transparent and less costly.

“Today’s announcement adds to the momentum around Remitly’s expanding global mission,” said Matt Oppenheimer, CEO of Remitly, in the same press release. “We are especially pleased to be backed by IFC and the World Bank Group, who, for many years, have actively worked towards trust and transparency around global remittances — the two core values at the heart of our business.”

Remitly noted its entry into Mexico last year makes further Latin American expansion a natural next step for the company. Latin Americans living in the United States are responsible for sending over $17 billion in annual remittance volume to the seven countries Remitly is expanding into, and those on the receiving end boast the largest smartphone consumption rate of any other demographic group, the company noted.