A Somali man has raised $100 million for his online money transfer startup, WorldRemit, a London-based company that lets expats and migrant workers send money to friends and family back home, Wired magazine reported Wednesday.
Ismail Ahmed, CEO and founder of WorldRemit, said the company will use the latest round of funding to bring its low-cost transfer service to more countries. Customers can now send money from 50 countries and receive money in 117 countries, but the company hopes to expand into more countries.
“WorldRemit believes that sending money should be fast, simple and fairly priced. By taking an offline industry online, we are able to achieve those goals for the benefit of all our customers,” Ismail told Wired in November.
WorldRemit, launched in 2010, employs more than 100 people, mainly based in London.
The quick expansion of the online company comes at a critical time when Somali money transfer companies are struggling to find banks willing to work with them to transfer money overseas. Major banks in the West have already cut off relations with the hawalas over fears of money laundering and terror FINANCING
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Ismail said he was thinking about revolutionizing the money transfer system for a long time after he become frustrated with the inadequacies and high cost that hawalas impose on their customers.
“Years after the internet had revolutionised other industries, such as travel and shopping, this particular financial service remained largely untouched by the financial revolution,” he said. “I came to realise that the person who was going to make that happen was me.
It previously received $40 million funding from Accel Partners. The latest $100 million round of venture FINANCING came from Technology Crossover Ventures and Accel Partners.
“We are raising this funding to primarily drive growth in the U.S.,” Ismail told The Denver Post. “We will be doing a lot of hiring in Denver.”
Ismail said the effects of the “internet revolution” will eventually force the money transfer industry to change the way it operates.
“People will no longer tolerate the inconvenience and expense of using offline, brick and mortar agents when they can just pick up their smartphone and send MONEY QUICKLY and at low cost to friends and family around the world,” he said.
