The antiquated nature of remittance payments is something that immigrants areall too familiarwith.
Demand for better alternatives is giving rise to a new cohort offintechcompanies looking to streamline the process.
One of them is London-headquartered LemFi.
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.
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, officiallyset up shopin Europe.
The startup is tapping a global remittance marketpredictedto 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.
The fresh funding brings LemFis total raised to $85mn.
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Olalere, originally from Nigeria, founded LemFi alongside Norwegian Rian Cochran.
The pair met whilst working at Nigerian fintech unicorn OPay, incubated by Norwegian web client provider Opera.
No doubt part of LemFis 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.
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 startupsZepz and Taptap Send, both of which are based in London.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
