Cross-border payments platform raises $292m from LeapFrog, others
Zepz, formerly WorldRemit, a digital cross-border payments platform operating two brands (WorldRemit and Sendwave, acquired in 2021), with over 11 million users across 150 countries, has raised $292 million in new primary financing, achieving a valuation of $5 billion.
The round includes new equity investors Farallon Capital among others, as well as backing from existing investors LeapFrog, TCV and Accel.
Zepz is revolutionising the P2P cross-border payments market, an estimated $1 trillion market opportunity which continues to be predominantly offline and is characterised by high prices and poor customer experience.
Zepz reaches over 5,000 money transfer corridors, including emerging markets with high barriers to entry, establishing digital connectivity into geographies that had previously been underserved. The WorldRemit and Sendwave brands offer a faster (85% of transactions settled in minutes) and more flexible (digital offering with multiple pay-in and pay-out options) user experience at fairer prices. This superior value proposition has enabled multi-year customer engagement on its platform – most users transact in a frequent, habitual manner – with Zepz’ average customer transacting about four times per month on the platform.
The funding round will allow Zepz to continue to invest in its technology, platform and customer proposition. Zepz sees significant growth opportunities both in its existing markets by driving engagement and deeper market penetration, as well as expanding into new markets and further extending its platform to offer additional value-added services to its users.
Breon Corcoran, CEO of Zepz said, “Today’s announced raise is another important step in the execution of our strategy. Following the acquisition of Sendwave we have made significant progress with the integration of the different businesses and are retaining both the Sendwave and WorldRemit brands. In that context we are proud to announce the rebranding of our holding company to Zepz.”
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