Remittance-focused fintech startup LemFi has announced a major $53 million capital raise in a Series B funding round, aimed at facilitating its expansion into Europe.
The round was led by London-based growth-stage investment firm Highland Europe, with participation from existing investors including Endeavor Catalyst, Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital and Y Combinator. This brings LemFi’s total funding to $85 million.
LemFi, which currently serves African immigrants in 22 countries, plans to use this funding to expand its service offerings, improve its payment network licenses and partnerships globally, and provide hyper-localized services.
The expansion into Europe follows a partnership with Modulr and the acquisition of a limited company based in the Republic of Ireland, allowing LemFi to begin independent operations in Europe next month.
The company also aims to invest in talent acquisition to support its rapid growth phase. LemFi currently employs more than 300 people in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia.
More work for founders
Founded in 2019 by Nigerian Ridwan Olalere and European Rian Cochran, LemFi’s recent collaboration allows it to start operations while awaiting its own European license, which is expected to be granted next month.
This expansion will allow LemFi, which generates revenue through transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads, to serve customers in 27 sending markets and facilitate remittances to 20 recipient countries.
After expanding into the United States in 2023, LemFi entered major remittance markets like China, India, and Pakistan in 2024, hiring senior executives from domestic companies like Terrapay, DeliveryHero, and OPay to support this growth.
What you need to know
- The funding will allow Lemfi to acquire more licenses and partnerships as it expands its offerings to include localized services for customers. Lemfi is set to launch a card for customers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The company will also hire staff as it grows rapidly.
- Lemfi now processes $1 billion in monthly payment volume, a significant increase from 2023, when it processed $2 billion in annual transaction volume. The startup has also doubled its users, revenue and transactions over the past two years.
- Olalere attributed this growth to strong adoption in the Asian corridor, which brings in $160 million in monthly TPV and is experiencing 30% monthly growth since its launch last year.
After expanding to the United States in 2023, the startup entered major remittance markets like China, India, and Pakistan in 2024. It entered these markets by poaching top executives from national companies like Terrapay, DeliveryHero and OPay.