WorldRemit raises £65m from Facebook and Netflix backers as TransferWise enters US
An online money-transfer business set up by a former UN adviser on money laundering has raised £65 million from the backers of Netflix and Facebook.
WorldRemit, set up in 2010 by Somali-born Ismail Ahmed, has raised the sum from Technology Crossover Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund that has in the past invested in the likes of Netflix and Spotify.
Existing backer Accel Partners, which backed Facebook and Groupon, also took part in the funding.
It comes less than a month after rival money transfer business TransferWise, which is also based in London, was valued at $1 billion as it raised $58 million.
TransferWise also announced the launch of its service in the US, allowing Americans to send cash to Europe and beyond.
The company is opening its first US office in New York and co-founder Taavet Hinrikus said TransferWise is making a “significant” investment in the country.
WorldRemit’s Ahmed played down any talk of rivalry between the two businesses, saying: “We’re actually targeting kind of different spaces. TransferWise is mainly the UK and Europe.
“We’re targeting developing countries. We’re probably one of the few truly global FinTech companies. Our biggest sent markets are the likes of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.”
Ahmed declined to share the valuation of WorldRemit, but revealed that revenues close to tripled between 2013 and 2014, rising from £5.5 million to £15.2 million. Ahmed said he expected this growth rate to continue.
The funding will be put towards expanding WorldRemit’s US office, opened in December, with plans to hire over 200 staff in America. Ahmed said the 150-strong London office would likely double in the next year too.
The Hammersmith-based start-up also plans to expand its partnerships with mobile money providers in developing countries, allowing people to transfer money to recipients without bank accounts.
Over 50% of WorldRemit’s transfers to Africa are either mobile money or mobile airtime top-ups and last month the company signed a deal with telecom group MTN to expand this area of its business.
WorldRemit revealed that Bangladesh is the most popular country for its London based-customers to send money to, followed by Ghana, Zimbabwe, Cameroon and Kenya.
