Person-to-person money exchange service CurrencyFair has raised €10m on the back of a successful spell that saw it become the first platform to break the US$1bn barrier in money-matching transfers last year.
This funding was led by Octopus – an investor that targets entrepreneurs and fast-growth companies – and included Frontline Ventures.
The raised capital will help expand the peer-to-peer currency transfer sector “and enhance and expand CurrencyFair’s existing currency corridors”.
“The money transfer sector has seen a lot of attention recently, with customers beginning to realise the high fees charged by banks when sending money internationally,” said CurrencyFair CEO Brett Meyers.
“These customers, made up of an internationally mobile workforce, retirees and foreign property owners, are regularly sending UK£2,000 or more in the form of pay, pensions, mortgages and rents.
“For these people we are a great match as we are virtually unbeatable [if you’re sending more than] UK£2,000, sometimes even beating the interbank rate, which banks, brokers and other transfer services can’t do.”
Customers worldwide are increasingly migrating away from using traditional banks – where they pay non-transparent and expensive currency exchange charges – towards the wave of new fintech platforms. Thus the interest in companies likes CurrencyFair.
“The fintech scene is incredibly exciting at the moment, and nowhere more so than in international transfers,” said Rebecca Hunt, a member of the Ventures team at Octopus.
“It’s certainly a competitive market, but we are pleased to be backing CurrencyFair and look forward to working closely with them in this next step in the business’ growth.”
Currency exchange image, via Shutterstock
