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Seattle based person-to-person payments startup Remitly has raised $38m in equity funding and debt financing led by IFC and Silicon Valley bank. Founded in 2011, Remitly offers a mobile payments service that enables consumers to make P2P international money transfers from the United States and Canada to people located in Asia, Central America and South America. The company’s platform aims to make transfers as easy as possible by eliminating forms, codes, agents, extra time, and fees tied to the traditional money transfer process.
Remitly is licensed as a money transmitter currently operating in 49 US states and Canada, sending millions of dollars for thousands of customers each month. It’s catering to an ever-increasing demand from migrants working in the United States and Canada who wish to send money home to their families, a market that saw transferred funds topping $600 billion last year. That process has often been slow and expensive and has lacked transparency. Many recipients may have little or no access to traditional banking services, whereas Remitly says it makes sending money faster, easier, more transparent and less costly through its proprietary global transfer network and mobile app.
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