WorldRemit is an online money transfer service that provides international remittance services. It was founded in 2010 by Ismail Ahmed, Catherine Wines, and Richard Igoe. As of 2018, WorldRemit had around 3 million users. Its primary competitors include Remitly and TransferWise.
History
WorldRemit was founded in 2010 by Dr. Ismail Ahmed, a former compliance advisor to the United Nations Development Programme. Ahmed began developing WorldRemit while studying for an MBA at London Business School. He has said that the idea of an online money transfer service was partly influenced by his own frustrating experience of sending money to relatives in Somaliland using offline, agent-based services. In October 2018, WorldRemit announced that founder Ahmed would be stepping into the role of executive chairman and the company would be bringing in Breon Corcoran as CEO.
Operations
As one of the first online money transfer firms to focus heavily on mobile-to-mobile remittances, on the sending side WorldRemit is 100% cashless. For those receiving money, WorldRemit offers a wide range of options including bank deposit, cash collection and mobile airtime top-up and mobile money. While remittances to developing countries reached an all-time high of $690 billion in 2018, they have traditionally been costly and inconvenient for families worldwide that rely on these funds for education, healthcare, and basic survival. WorldRemit helps address this issue with a network of 6,700 corridors – one of the biggest networks for digital money transfers worldwide. The company is connected to the major mobile money services globally, including M-Pesa, MTN, and bKash. Digital remittances reduce dependency on sending cash through informal channels such as the hawala system, and improve security to address with global compliance requirements. As of October 2019, WorldRemit can remit funds to 115 different countries. WorldRemit also offers remittances to all African countries except for Sudan, South Sudan, Eswatini, Eritrea, Libya, and Algeria.
Funding
WorldRemit is backed by venture capital companies Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. In March 2014, WorldRemit secured a Series A investment of $40m from Accel Partners, an early backer of Facebook and Spotify, and Project A Ventures. Following the investment, Accel's Harry Nelis joined the WorldRemit board. In February 2015 WorldRemit announced a $100m Series B funding round led by TCV. It was also announced that TCV General Partner John Rosenberg would join the WorldRemit board. In 2017, the company received a $40 million investment in their Series Cround of funding. LeapFrog Investments was the lead investor for this round of funding. In 2019, WorldRemit raised a $175 million Series D funding round, led by TCV, Accel and Leapfrog Investments.
