Indian-promoted fintech firm InstaRem raises $13 mn in round-3 fundraising

World Bank lists it among the most cost-efficient money transfer platforms across the world

InstaRem, one of Asia-Pacific's (APAC’s) leading digital cross-border payments company, has just received a $13-million investment, led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC).  

Mumbai-based Prajit Nanu is one of the co-founders at InstaRem. An erstwhile global sales director of TMF Group and vice president- sales and account management at WNS, he partnered with Michael Bermingham to set up InstaRem in 2014, the company said in a statement.

InstaRem is a Singapore-headquartered cross-border payments company. Founded in 2014, InstaRem is licensed as a Money Services Business (MSB) in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Canada. It powers local payments to more than 50 countries across the globe. InstaRem has created a unique payment mesh in Asia, which is being leveraged by financial institutions, SMEs and individuals to make fast low-cost cross-border payments.

InstaRem will use the money to build its payment infrastructure, which has grown eight times in volumes since its March 2016 funding. The investment will also be used to boost the employee strength of its office in Mumbai, where most of the company’s teams are based.

Jefferson Chen, Partner at GSR Ventures, said: “The global payments infrastructure that InstaReM is building is unique in this industry and GSR Ventures is excited to join this journey.” 

Company’s co-founder, Prajit Nanu says: “GSR has a strong network in China and the US whereas the SBI-FMO has a strong base in Japan and emerging markets. Jefferson Chen from GSR Ventures now joins the InstaRem board."

Suramya Gupta, Fund Manager at the SBI-FMO Fund, said, "We are excited to partner with the InstaReM team to jointly build the leading regional cross-border digital payments platform. We look forward to plugging InstaReM into our global ecosystem of Fintech and financial service companies.”

In total, InstaRem has now raised over $18 million. InstaRem’s global payment infrastructure platform is now becoming the platform of choice for many small and midsized banks, payment processors, corporates and individuals to send money across the border at a fraction of the cost compared to other operators. The fintech firm has the capability to now send payments to 50+ countries with a guaranteed destination amount on the same day.  

Banks, telecom operators, mobile wallets and MTOs can access InstaReM’s payment infrastructure for a superior service at far lower costs, thereby, enabling them to compete with global players.

In fact, World Bank has consistently listed InstaReM as one of the most cost-efficient money transfer platforms across many corridors from Austalia and Singapore.
 

InstaRem currently holds an 8 per cent market share for users remitting to India from Australia.

By the start of the fourth quarter in 2017, InstaReM will be available across all markets in Europe and US in addition to Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Canada. 
 

Speed and service transparency have been the key differentiators for the company. InstaReM has recently re-branded itself to highlight its speed and service transparency through a new logo.

FUNDRAISING MILESTONES

• The initial capital of $500,000 came from Global Founders Capital, followed by $5 million in 2016 lead by Vertex Ventures, the venture capital arm of Temasek, Fullerton Financial Holding and Global Founders Capital.
• The $13 million investment- led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH), and Global Founders Capital (GFC)- is part of the firm's third round of fundraising.