Founded by Matt Oppenheimer, Shivaas Gulati, and Josh Hug, Remitly is making international money transfers easier than ever. The company completed the Techstars Seattle Accelerator in 2011 and went public on September 23, 2021. The company trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker RELY.

A little more than one year ago, in July 2020, we congratulated Remitly on achieving unicorn status. Now in 2021, we’re thrilled to share the news that Remitly is the latest Techstars portfolio company to go public, joining SendGrid, Digital Ocean, Safello, Latch, and Owlet.

Financial Inclusion for All

Remitly has been disrupting cross-border payments since 2011, making it easy and inexpensive to send money where it’s needed most. Their mobile-first service eliminates many of the hassles — forms, codes, agents, and other fees — associated with corporations that have long dominated the remittance industry. 

Recently, Remitly has seen the kind of growth that most startups can only dream of. Since the start of 2020, Remitly has doubled the number of countries that people can receive money in, from 49 to 100, and expanded its mobile wallet network by more than 100% worldwide, according to Yahoo Finance. In May, Remitly and Visa announced an expansion of their existing partnership: Visa made an equity investment in Remitly, and the companies will work together to expand cross-border transfer services, with a vision of financial inclusion for all. 

Techstars is With You From Idea to IPO, and Always

Remitly completed the Techstars Seattle Accelerator in 2011. That powerhouse class included two other companies that went on to become unicorns, Zipline and Outreach. 

In 2014, Remitly Cofounder and CEO Matt Oppenheimer wrote an article he called, “Why Techstars is a Bargain.” He still stands behind those words. 

“Everyone gets something slightly different out of Techstars,” he wrote. “For me, it was the product network.” He met both of his cofounders, Srivaas Gulati and Josh Hug, via Techstars, connections that he calls “invaluable.”

From honest feedback to focus to the worldwide Techstars network, the accelerator experience was deeply valuable to Matt, and to Remitly: “While founders are smart to value their equity, they’d be crazy not to consider being part of Techstars. The 6% we gave them was a no-brainer. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

We’re so proud to have been part of Remitly’s journey. Congratulations to everyone involved!

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