Foreign Exchange Company WorldRemit Gets $175 Million in Funding

(Bloomberg) -- WorldRemit, a London-based technology company that helps expatriates and migrant workers send remittances back to their home countries, has raised $175 million in new funding.

Venture capital firms TCV, Accel Partners and Leapfrog Investments, all of which backed WorldRemit previously, took part in the new round.

It brings the total amount of venture funding WorldRemit has raised to more than $375 million, a spokeswoman for the company said. She declined to comment on the current valuation of the firm.

Founded in 2010, WorldRemit said it handles "a growing share" of the $700 billion in remittances sent each year by expatriate and migrant workers. It said it currently has almost 4 million customers in 50 "send" countries who use its mobile app to transfer money to 150 possible "receive" countries.

The company said its largest send market is currently the U.S.

Breon Corcoran, who took over as WorldRemit’s chief executive officer last year, said in a statement that the new money would help the company move beyond just individual remittances and develop an application that will let small- and medium-sized businesses transfer money internationally.

WorldRemit competes with traditional international money transfer firms, such as The Western Union Co., as well as other financial technology startups, such as TransferWise, which was valued at $3.5 billion after an investment round last month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeremy Kahn in London at jkahn21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giles Turner at gturner35@bloomberg.net, Nate Lanxon, Edwin Chan

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