Coming from South Africa but living in Europe, I can tell you that sending money to family and friends back home is a bit of a nightmare. Typically you must use a traditional bank, which can take a week or more, or payment apps like PayPal or Wise, which charge high fees.
The antiquated nature of remittance payments is something that immigrants are all too familiar with. Demand for better alternatives is giving rise to a new cohort of fintech companies looking to streamline the process. One of them is London-headquartered LemFi.
Founded in 2021, the financial services platform enables diaspora communities in North America and Europe to quickly and affordably send money to friends and family in China, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, and 15 other countries in the Global South. Sadly, for me, South Africa is not yet on the list. However, LemFi is expanding fast so I might not have very long to wait.
LemFi has already onboarded 1 million customers so far, who have made a combined $1bn in monthly transactions through the app. Transactions to and from Asia are currently growing at 30% month-on-month, said the company. And last week, LemFi, which employs over 300 people, officially set up shop in Europe. The startup is tapping a global remittance market predicted to reach $1.3 trillion by 2032.
All that growth potential, has, unsurprisingly, piqued the interest of VCs. Today, LemFi announced that it has raised $53mn in Series B funding. London-based growth-stage venture firm Highland Europe led the round, with participation from previous investors Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y-Combinator. The fresh funding brings LemFi’s total raised to $85mn.
“When we started building LemFi, we were told remittance had already been solved,” said Ridwan Olalere, co-founder and CEO of LemFi, pictured left. “But for too many people, it is still too slow, cumbersome and expensive with customers telling us that in some instances it was cheaper to send money from the US via Canada than directly to their families back home.”
Olalere, originally from Nigeria, founded LemFi alongside Norwegian Rian Cochran. The pair met whilst working at Nigerian fintech unicorn OPay, incubated by Norwegian browser provider Opera.
Fuelled by fresh funding, LemFi now looks to add new features and expand to new countries, said Olalere.
No doubt part of LemFi’s popularity is that it advertises zero transaction fees. Well, unless you live in China, India, or Pakistan. The company also makes revenue on foreign currency exchanges. Its business model is dependent on volume, making small profits on numerous transactions while staying competitive for users seeking low-cost international money transfers.
LemFi is far from alone in the increasingly crowded remittance fintech market. Perhaps the most well-known is US-based Remitly, which went public in 2021. Other contenders include startups Zepz and Taptap Send, both of which are based in London.