PYMNTS-MonitorEdge-May-2024

WorldRemit Hits $5B Valuation, Rebrands As Zepz

WorldRemit

The digital cross-border payment platform Zepz — formerly WorldRemit — became a $5 billion company on Monday (Aug. 23) after raising $292 million in new primary Series E financing.

“The additional funds raised enable us to accelerate investment to prosecute our very sizeable growth opportunity whilst further strengthening our high-quality investor base and our mission to provide fair, fast, flexible payments for our customers,” Zepz CEO Breon Corcoran said in a news release.

The funding round includes new equity investor Farallon Capital, along with support from existing investors Leapfrog, TCV and Accel. As PYMNTS reported last week, this funding round comes ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO) for the London-based company.

Learn more: WorldRemit Raising Funds Ahead Of Possible IPO At $5B Valuation

Until recently, Zepz was known as WorldRemit, but has chosen to rebrand in light of the new funding and valuation.

The company purchased the Africa-focused remittance app Sendwave last August in a deal that valued both firms at $1.5 billion. The following month, WorldRemit launched its Transfer Tracker mobile app in 90 countries, allowing recipients to keep track of their remittances.

The app comes with a “track my money feature,” designed for the 1.7 billion people globally with no access to a bank account or an account with mobile money providers, or those who use cash pick-up agents.

Last year, Sendwave and WorldRemit enabled more than 4.5 million monthly transactions on its platform, generating almost $10 billion of gross send volumes and $338 million of revenues, the company news release said.

“Zepz sees significant growth opportunities, both in its existing markets by driving engagement and deeper market penetration, as well as expanding into new markets and further extending its platform to offer additional value-added services to its users,” the release said.

According to Zepz, its two brands offer a faster and more flexible user experience, with 85 percent of transactions concluding within minutes and multiple pay-in and pay-out options.