Money transfer service WorldRemit closes $40m Series A round

Online money transfer platform WorldRemit has secured a $40m Series A round from Accel Partners, said to be one of the largest venture rounds of its kind completed in Europe.

Founded in 2009, London-based WorldRemit is an international online payments transfer service, also accessible via mobile and tablet, which enables customers across 35 countries to send remittance payments to recipients overseas in over 100 destinations.

Since its launch, it has established partnerships with several leading international banks and mobile money transfer networks and has scaled the business to over 50 employees with an alleged 1.3m annual remittance transactions.

It will use the major investment to expand its global reach and develop additional products and services to support its portfolio.

It also intends for the finance to “continue its rapid growth” in 2014 with plans to add 150 new members to its team by the end of the year.

Ismail Ahmed, founder & CEO of WorldRemit (pictured second left), said: “We expect the online money transfer sector to account for approximately 30% of the remittance market in the next few years and that WorldRemit will be at the forefront of this change.

“Accel Partners with their global network and extensive expertise in the payments industry is the perfect fit for WorldRemit. We are excited to continue our rapid growth trajectory with their support.”

Accel Partners’ Harry Nelis, who argues that WorldRemit is “disrupting […] and democratising payments”, continued:

“We are excited to be partnering with a team with the deep industry expertise that has enabled them to build the robust technology and strong compliance needed for a secure, trusted and world-class remittance business.”