TransferGo

TransferGo is a digital remittance solution for migrant workers^[1] launched by Justinas Lasevičius, Daumantas Dvilinskas, Arnas Lukoševičius and Edvinas Šeršniovas on 18 September 2012. The company uses a digital account-to-account business model, which means that money transfers do not have to leave the country, as funds are paid in and out locally.

TransferGo is officially registered and licensed as a payment service provider. Company services are regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), supervised by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Control (HMRC) under the Money Laundering Regulation.^[2]

The headquarters of TransferGo are located in Canary Wharf in London, Great Britain. In 2013, TransferGo was accepted as a member of Level39^[3][4] - Europe's largest accelerator space for technology businesses innovating in the finance, retail and future cities sectors and is also a founding member of Innovate Finance - an industry organisation that will accelerate the UK's leading position in the global financial services sector, by directly supporting the next era of technology-led financial services innovators, whether they be a young start-up or an established industry player.

In 2017, the company celebrated its 5th birthday and saw company expansion grow, with key achievements including expansion into China, a new office in Germany and a run-rate of 1 million transfers per year. The company, which at the time of writing served 45 countries and 22 currencies, also onboarded Renier Lemmens. A former CEO of PayPal EMEA and COO of Barclays, Renier became the company's new Chairman of the Board of Directors in October 2017.

History

In 2012, TransferGo Ltd was officially registered in the UK. It was founded by Justinas Lasevičius, Daumantas Dvilinskas and Edvinas Šeršniovas. Later, this team was joined by developer Arnas Lukoševičius, who created the website design and system.

In 2013, TransferGo acquired their small payment institution license, which allowed them to transfer money to and from all EEA countries.

In 2013, TransferGo raised funding from Practica Seed Capital, a venture capital fund based in Lithuania.^[5]

In 2013, the team was joined by Greg Kidd - a consultant and financial expert to several international companies, investor to the social network Twitter and founder of Dispatch Management Services Corporation. He advises the company on business development and finance management.^[6]

In May 2013, TransferGo received "2013 Most Innovative Business Talent Award" from the most popular Lithuanian news portal Delfi and the Danish Chamber of Commerce.^[7]

In June 2013, TransferGo launched their Refer-a-Friend programme, which allows customers to earn extra money - 1% of the amount transferred - by referring new customers to TransferGo.

In July 2013, TransferGo was accepted to one of the biggest comparison websites money.co.uk.^[8]

In 2014, TransferGo received a silver innovation prize at HackOsaka in Japan.^[9]

In June 2014, TransferGo introduced a mobile version and direct debit card payments.

In October 2014, the CEO of TransferGo, Daumantas Dvilinskas, was selected to give a speech on the topic of "Bank of Ties versus Bank of Facebook" as a part of SIBOS international conference in Boston.^[10]

TransferGo announced on 15 December 2015 its $2.5m seed round led by Mark Ransford; former investor at Apax Partners, Voria Fattahi; former investor at Kinnevik, and Clive Kahn; former CEO of Travelex.^[11]

In 2017, TransferGo's success soared, achieving a run-rate of 1 million transfers per year with transfers topping £500 million (half a £billion). After their expansion into China, TransferGo now serves 45 countries and 22 currencies.

In October 2017, TransferGo onboarded Renier Lemmens as their Chairman of the Board of Directors. Based in London, United Kingdom, Renier Lemmens is the former CEO of PayPal EMEA and the former COO of Barclays.

Services

As of 2017, the company had processed over £500 million (half a £billion) in online transfers via the web and app, achieving a run-rate of 1 million transfers per year.

TransferGo transfers money between 45 European countries and 22 countries. These countries include Austria, Belgium, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and United Kingdom.^[12] The company can also make transfers to other countries in Europe, though they would pay out only in € there.

There are no daily transfer limits set by the company and users are allowed to have both personal and/or a business account. The company's website is available in 7 languages: Latvian, Lithuanian, English, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian.

TransferGo works according to principles of local in - local out. This means their customers make local money transfers into a local TransferGo bank account and then the company makes a local payment to the bank account of the recipient.^[13]

In 2019, TransferGo announced the launch of a blockchain-based remittance corridor from Europe to India, to support real-time cross-border transfers. The service, which is based on the Ripple's payment technology, is expected to be available from all locations across the European region.^[14]

Investors

TransferGo raised capital from venture capital funds Practica Seed Capital KŪB and Practica Venture Capital KŪB using the structural support for the 2007-2013 economic growth program,^[15] co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

In December 2018, the startup raised $17,6M in Series B. The round was led by Vostok Emerging Finance and Silicon Valley’s Hard Yaka, with participation from Revo Capital, U-Start Club and Practica Capital.^[16]

Media attention

TransferGo has been mentioned as a new player in financial technology field by Techcrunch.^[17]

Arcticstartup^[18]

Startups Tech Pitch: TransferGo^[19][20]

Finextra - TransferGo launches in more European countries^[21]

References

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