NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Remitly, a Seattle startup that helps immigrants send money home, has raised a $38.5 million funding round and announced it will expand to Canada.

Including a $12.5 million round in March 2015, the company has now raised $61 million.

The lead investor in the latest round was New York-based venture-capital firm Stripes Group. Remitly also raised money from Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital and existing investors DFJ, DN Capital, Bezos Expeditions and Trilogy Equity Partners.

The 5-year-old startup runs a mobile service that sends money overseas with the goal of making remittances easier and cheaper than with entrenched leaders such as Western Union. Remitly enables customers to send money from the U.S. to India, Mexico and the Philippines, and now will let people send money from Canada to India and the Philippines.