Lemfi, a remittance startup serving African immigrants across 22 countries, has raised $53 million in a Series B round to support its expansion into Europe through the acquisition of a European firm.
The round was led by Highland Europe, a London-based growth-stage investment firm that only backs startups with more than €10 million in annualised revenues, and with follow-on investment from existing investors like Endeavor Catalyst, Left Lane Capital, Palm Drive Capital, and Y Combinator. This round means the startup has received $85 million in funding since it was founded in 2019 by Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran.
Lemfi’s expansion into Europe came off the back of a partnership with Modulr, but its acquisition of an unnamed Republic of Ireland-based company will allow it to begin its European operations independently from next month. The startup makes money from transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads across the countries it operates in.
The funding will allow Lemfi to acquire more licenses and partnerships as it expands its offerings to include localised services for customers. Lemfi is set to launch a card for customers in the US, the UK and Canada. It will also hire staff as it continues to grow rapidly.
Lemfi is now processing $1 billion in monthly payment volume, a significant jump from 2023 when it processed $2 billion in annual transaction volume. The startup has also doubled users, revenue, and transactions over the past two years. Olalere credited the growth to strong adoption in the Asian corridor, which rakes in $160 million in monthly TPV and is growing 30% month-on-month since it launched last year.
After expanding into the US in 2023, the startup entered large remittance markets like China, India, and Pakistan in 2024. It entered these markets by poaching C-suite executives from domestic companies like Terrapay, DeliveryHero, and OPay.
