Neil here.
On Thursday, news broke that international money transfer app Remitly raised $85 million in a brand-new financing round, rocketing their valuation to a whopping $1.5 billion.
I assume that everyone on Remitly’s team is celebrating this news big time… and I don’t blame them at all.
Because I happen to have my own investment ties to Remitly… and although I’m no longer sitting at the company’s cap table, this news was still exciting to hear.
In November 2011, I invested $25,000 into the company during their very first seed round.
During that round, the company raised a total of $2.78 million at a pre-money valuation of $8.35 million. They took investments from top venture capital firms and investors alike… including Amazon’s own Jeff Bezos.
In early 2018, I exited Remitly with almost $476,000… an amazing 19X return.
Soon after I exited, the company closed their Series D financing round with $115 million in funding at a $385 million valuation.
Since then, Remitly’s continued growth has been absolutely incredible, but not surprising to me. This is a company that did all the right things as they grew and saw major success for their efforts.
First, Remitly has an incredible founding team full of mobile banking whizzes.
Before founding the company, CEO Matt Oppenheimer worked at Barclays Bank Kenya, where he launched an internet banking initiative and helped expand mobile banking services across the entirety of Barclays Africa (now known as Absa Group Limited).
When he left, he founded Remitly with an admirable mission: to make international money transfers easier for everyone, but particularly for immigrants sending money back to family members in their home countries.
And evidently, he was incredibly successful.
Even in 2011, the fintech industry’s imminent explosion was a no-brainer. Remitly operates in a massive market that was valued at $2.5 billion in 2011 and is expected to hit $460 billion by just 2025, according to both Statista and Adroit Market Research.
The industry’s value is driven mainly by increasing adoption of mobile banking apps around the world, which bodes well for Remitly’s continued growth.
But there’s one piece of Remitly’s success puzzle that really piqued my interest back then.
They graduated from a startup accelerator… more specifically, one of the top-tier platinum startup accelerators in the world: Techstars.
Startup accelerators are essentially like boot camp for early-stage companies.
Startups apply to be a part of an extremely select class of companies that will receive mentorship, education, and capital… all designed to help them get off the ground and access the resources needed to be successful.
At the end of the program, these startups have the opportunity to pitch their company to VCs, angel investors, corporations, and others who can give them the capital fuel needed to push ahead.
And in exchange for these resources, accelerators invest in the participating companies at a favorable valuation, meaning that they can share in the continued success.
Techstars is the cream of the crop of the startup accelerator world. According to Remitly’s Matt Oppenheimer himself, Remitly’s success would not have been possible without them.
Remitly was one of 10 companies out of hundreds of applicants to make it into that year’s Techstars class.
Among everything else, the company gained priceless product network expertise, honest feedback on their mission, a massive network of experts, and the pure credibility of being part of such a selective group.
Once their time at Techstars ended, the Remitly team forked over 6% equity… which Matt says was a bargain well worth it.
Remitly is part of a long list of mega-successful companies spawned by startup accelerators around the world… think companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, ClassPass, Contently, and more.
In my opinion, Remitly’s success story – and the success stories of so many others – can teach us one valuable lesson…
That sometimes, the best way for the world’s most successful companies to get a head start is to seek and accept the expertise of other industry experts.
And often, the companies that get this type of push can be the ones that provide the greatest returns to their investors.
Now, Remitly no longer an early stage company. They’re well into their later-stage VC financing rounds at this point… and they’re doing well.
But I’ve got my eye on an early stage venture group that’s currently accepting both accredited and non-accredited investors.
It’s not a startup accelerator… but it’s similar in its mission.
This company acquires, develops, and scales profitable tech startups that each have to meet extremely selective criteria to make it into the company’s portfolio.
Essentially, it’s like a mini “shark tank” for the tech industry.
And anyone who invests in the company is also investing in their portfolio of these high-growth potential startups… kind of like getting a bunch of deal opportunities at once.
This company and its founding team are superstars in my books. The research team has analyzed it all and I’m presenting it in a Private Dealroom meeting.
If you’re interested in learning more about this company – and two others with huge upside potential – check it out.
Just click here to watch. Your meeting password is JULY2020.
Until next time,
Neil Patel
P.S. The Angels & Entrepreneurs Network partnered with Techstars back in April to bring subscribers even closer to the startup world action. Follow along to see what the buzz is about!
On Thursday, news broke that international money transfer app Remitly raised $85 million in a brand-new financing round, rocketing their valuation to a whopping $1.5 billion.
I assume that everyone on Remitly’s team is celebrating this news big time… and I don’t blame them at all.
Because I happen to have my own investment ties to Remitly… and although I’m no longer sitting at the company’s cap table, this news was still exciting to hear.
In November 2011, I invested $25,000 into the company during their very first seed round.
During that round, the company raised a total of $2.78 million at a pre-money valuation of $8.35 million. They took investments from top venture capital firms and investors alike… including Amazon’s own Jeff Bezos.
In early 2018, I exited Remitly with almost $476,000… an amazing 19X return.
Soon after I exited, the company closed their Series D financing round with $115 million in funding at a $385 million valuation.
Since then, Remitly’s continued growth has been absolutely incredible, but not surprising to me. This is a company that did all the right things as they grew and saw major success for their efforts.
First, Remitly has an incredible founding team full of mobile banking whizzes.
Before founding the company, CEO Matt Oppenheimer worked at Barclays Bank Kenya, where he launched an internet banking initiative and helped expand mobile banking services across the entirety of Barclays Africa (now known as Absa Group Limited).
When he left, he founded Remitly with an admirable mission: to make international money transfers easier for everyone, but particularly for immigrants sending money back to family members in their home countries.
And evidently, he was incredibly successful.
Even in 2011, the fintech industry’s imminent explosion was a no-brainer. Remitly operates in a massive market that was valued at $2.5 billion in 2011 and is expected to hit $460 billion by just 2025, according to both Statista and Adroit Market Research.
The industry’s value is driven mainly by increasing adoption of mobile banking apps around the world, which bodes well for Remitly’s continued growth.
But there’s one piece of Remitly’s success puzzle that really piqued my interest back then.
They graduated from a startup accelerator… more specifically, one of the top-tier platinum startup accelerators in the world: Techstars.
Startup accelerators are essentially like boot camp for early-stage companies.
Startups apply to be a part of an extremely select class of companies that will receive mentorship, education, and capital… all designed to help them get off the ground and access the resources needed to be successful.
At the end of the program, these startups have the opportunity to pitch their company to VCs, angel investors, corporations, and others who can give them the capital fuel needed to push ahead.
And in exchange for these resources, accelerators invest in the participating companies at a favorable valuation, meaning that they can share in the continued success.
Techstars is the cream of the crop of the startup accelerator world. According to Remitly’s Matt Oppenheimer himself, Remitly’s success would not have been possible without them.
Remitly was one of 10 companies out of hundreds of applicants to make it into that year’s Techstars class.
Among everything else, the company gained priceless product network expertise, honest feedback on their mission, a massive network of experts, and the pure credibility of being part of such a selective group.
Once their time at Techstars ended, the Remitly team forked over 6% equity… which Matt says was a bargain well worth it.
Remitly is part of a long list of mega-successful companies spawned by startup accelerators around the world… think companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, ClassPass, Contently, and more.
In my opinion, Remitly’s success story – and the success stories of so many others – can teach us one valuable lesson…
That sometimes, the best way for the world’s most successful companies to get a head start is to seek and accept the expertise of other industry experts.
And often, the companies that get this type of push can be the ones that provide the greatest returns to their investors.
Now, Remitly no longer an early stage company. They’re well into their later-stage VC financing rounds at this point… and they’re doing well.
But I’ve got my eye on an early stage venture group that’s currently accepting both accredited and non-accredited investors.
It’s not a startup accelerator… but it’s similar in its mission.
This company acquires, develops, and scales profitable tech startups that each have to meet extremely selective criteria to make it into the company’s portfolio.
Essentially, it’s like a mini “shark tank” for the tech industry.
And anyone who invests in the company is also investing in their portfolio of these high-growth potential startups… kind of like getting a bunch of deal opportunities at once.
This company and its founding team are superstars in my books. The research team has analyzed it all and I’m presenting it in a Private Dealroom meeting.
If you’re interested in learning more about this company – and two others with huge upside potential – check it out.
Just click here to watch. Your meeting password is JULY2020.
Until next time,
Neil Patel
P.S. The Angels & Entrepreneurs Network partnered with Techstars back in April to bring subscribers even closer to the startup world action. Follow along to see what the buzz is about!
Follow @angelsandentrepreneurs
Your story about Remitly is a nice introduction to the genesis of a successful start-up and it’s growth process.
Very interesting, Thanks Neil..
Interesting story, I’ve been waiting for a case study of a successful exit–especially in how long it took. Now, can you do one on a failed startup investment and what went wrong, lessons learned?
Hi John,
Try this story! https://startupinvestor.io/my-worst-angel-investment-ever-and-what-you-can-learn-from-it/
Thanks,
Sarah