Nium

Singapore-headquartered cross-border payments company

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Nium

Type of site

| Private company

|

Founded| 2014[1]
Headquarters| Singapore
Area served| Asia Pacific, Canada, Europe, United States
Founder(s)| Prajit Nanu, Michael Bermingham
CEO| Prajit Nanu
Key people| Prajit Nanu
(Co-Founder, CEO)
Michael Bermingham
(Co-Founder, COO)
Industry| Financial services
Products| Instarem
Services| International Money Transfer
Employees| >750 (2021)
URL| www.nium.com
Launched| August 2015
Written in| C#, Node.js, Java

Nium is a Singapore-headquartered cross-border payments company. Initially founded by Prajit Nanu and Michael Bermingham, and launched as a consumer-remittance platform Instarem in 2014. In 2016,[2] the company introduced its B2B payments platform[3] and rebranded as Nium in 2019,[4] subsequently elevating Pratik Gandhi to co-founder in 2021.[citation needed] However, Gandhi left Nium in October 2023, around the time Nium's Chief Product Officer also left the company and Nium announced a layoff of over 10% of its global staff.

## History

[edit]

Founders Prajit Nanu and Michael Bermingham developed a solution[buzzword] to provide transparent and secure cross-border remittances for overseas money transfers[5] with close to live exchange rates. Instarem was incorporated based on the premise of instant online remittances.[6]

By 2017, the company had begun to operate a cross-border payments platform targeted at business users, including banks and businesses.[7][8] It opened offices in the UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia, acquiring Electronic Money Transfer licenses in Malaysia and the EU. It hit $1 billion USD in dollars processed in the same year. In 2018, real-time delivery of funds reached 50+ countries and the company launched its card-issuing platform. Subsequently, in 2019, the company rebranded to Nium with the launch of the Nium platform, with Instarem continuing to operate as a wholly-owned consumer service.[9][10][11]

In 2021, the company made its first acquisitions:[12] Ixaris, a travel payments optimization firm and then Wirecard Forex, a payments services company in India.[13] In April 2022, Nium acquired the alternative payments network Socash.[14]

Also in 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) and Nium entered a multi-year strategic partnership involving and integrating several global ICC events through the end of 2023 - the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Oman; the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia; the ICC Women’s World Cup in South Africa; the ICC World Test Championship Final in 2023; and, the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 to be hosted in India.[15][16]

In January 2022, Nium strengthened its senior leadership team by appointing Robin Gandhi as Chief Product Officer. Before joining Nium, Gandhi led the product, engineering, design, and operations efforts at TripActions, after previous stints at Adyen.[17][18][19] Gandhi subsequently left Nium in September 2023.

In March 2022, Nium announced the appointment of Dylan Lowrey to General Counsel. Lowrey joined Nium in 2021 as Head of Regulatory Affairs and Product Law. Before it, Dylan led the global Payments Product Legal team at Stripe and served as Vice President and Acting US Head of Legal for Corporate Banking at Barclays.[20][21][22]

Nium announced on 26 April 2022 its agreement to acquire Socash Pte Ltd, a Singapore alternative payments network focused on non-traditional physical outlets.[23] The acquisition also provided Nium with the International Remittance Hub license from Bank Negara Malaysia (the country's central bank).[24][25] In May, it announced the availability of real-time payments in Malaysia. And now, Nium processes more than 80% of transactions worldwide in real-time.[26][27]

From June 2022, Nium has partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit that supports the growth of public blockchain Stellar, to enable payouts to 190 countries.[28][29]

In August 2022, Nium announced the appointment of Ramana Satyavarapu as Chief Technology Officer. Satyavarapu brings over 20 years of software engineering expertise from Microsoft, Google, Uber, Two Sigma and Finix.[30]

In October 2022, Nium teamed with B2B2C crypto infrastructure platform Zero Hash in a partnership that lets Nium's U.S. customers leverage crypto to fiat payment solutions.[buzzword][31]

Also, In October, Nium appointed two new board members, Huey Lin and David Yates. The new independent directors have guided several organizations through stages of rapid growth. Huey Lin is a venture partner with GGV Capital, while David Yates is an executive partner at Siris Capital Group.[32]

In November 2022, Nium launched a closed-loop payments solution[buzzword], Nium Airline Payments (NAP), powered by Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP). NAP provides airlines, travel agents, and online travel agencies (OTAs) sustainable closed-loop payment model.[33]

In December 2022, Paycell, Türkiye's digital payment platform, announced a strategic partnership with Nium to offer international money transfers from account to account using Nium's business payments infrastructure.[34]

In 2023, Nium's CEO, Prajit Nanu, stated in a Bloomberg interview that his company plans to go public in the US by Q2 2025. They also intend to acquire two to three payments startups, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.[35]

Following a hiring spree in 2021-2022, Instarem, a company under Nium, laid off around 10% of its employees in mid-2023. Subsequently, Nium announced a 10% workforce reduction on October 2, 2023 to its global employees. The news came just weeks after a grand opening of new offices in London and Singapore.

## Investors and funding

[edit]

In January 2015, Global Founders Capital, Germany-based Venture Capital arm of Rocket Internet Founders, invested US$500,000 as seed round of funding in Instarem that helped the company develop its money transfer platform.[36][37]

In March 2016, Instarem received an investment of US$5 million in Series A from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India (part of the Vertex Holdings network of funds), Fullerton Financial Holdings and Global Founders Capital, to acquire licenses for money transfer business in other markets.[38][39]

This was followed by Series B round of US$13 million in July 2017, led by GSR Ventures, with participation from SBI-FMO Ventures, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, Fullerton Financial Holdings, and Global Founders Capital.[40][41] The company will use this investment to further build its global payment infrastructure by way of increasing its payment corridors from 150 to around 2000.[42][1]

In November 2018, the company raised a Series C round of over $20 million, directed towards growth in new emerging markets in Latin America and Europe.[43]

This was followed by a private equity investment round of over $20 million ref in May 2020 by BRI Ventures, the corporate venture division of Bank BRI of Indonesia, and Visa.

By July 2021, the company had raised a Series D round[44] of USD$200M.[45][46] The company has since been characterized as a “unicorn.” Its valuation as of February 2022 was estimated at $2bn.[47]

## Investigations

[edit]

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) froze Rs 123 crore, belonging to Singapore-based shell entities, parked in bank accounts of Mumbai-based NIUM Indian Pvt Ltd as part of its probe into a money laundering case of illegal online loans, gambling, and betting apps through a cluster of mule accounts in Kerala.[48][49]

## See also

[edit]

* Remittances
* Money services business
* Foreign exchange market
* Financial technology

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Ainomugisha, Gerald (22 August 2017). "How international money transfers ruined a buck's weekend and birthed a global startup". Australian Anthill. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
2. ^ Collective, Tech (2020-12-22). "From zero to 100; the story of Nium". Tech Collective. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
3. ^ Webber, Daniel. "Nium: Inside B2B's Newest Global Payments Unicorn". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
4. ^ Webber, Daniel. "Nium: Inside B2B's Newest Global Payments Unicorn". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
5. ^ Ainomugisha, Gerald (2017-08-22). "How frustrating international money transfer birthed InstaReM". Retrieved 2023-03-12.
6. ^ "Modern Money Movement | Simplified Payments for B2B - Nium". Nium.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
7. ^ Webber, Daniel. "Nium: Inside B2B's Newest Global Payments Unicorn". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
8. ^ Russell, Jon (2017-07-04). "Cross-border payment startup InstaRem eyes IPO in 2020 after closing $13M Series B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
9. ^ PYMNTS (2019-10-27). "InstaReM Rebrands To Nium, Launches Open Money Network". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
10. ^ Collective, Tech (2020-12-22). "From zero to 100; the story of Nium". Tech Collective. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
11. ^ Webber, Daniel. "Nium: Inside B2B's Newest Global Payments Unicorn". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
12. ^ Pillai, Sharanya (4 April 2022). "Fintech Nium eyes more M&A deals on path to IPO". Businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
13. ^ Manikandan, Ashwin (2021-07-07). "Singapore's Nium to acquire Wirecard's forex unit in India". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
14. ^ PYMNTS (2022-04-26). "Nium Signs Deal to Buy Alternative Payments Platform Socash". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
15. ^ "Nium bets big in ICC T20 World Cup". www.connectedtoindia.com. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
16. ^ "ICC and Nium launch coding challenge to engage tech-loving cricket fans". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
17. ^ "Nium appointment of Robin Gandhi as Chief Product Officer". ffnews.com. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
18. ^ Cabico, Jean (2022-02-01). "Fintech Nium names Robin Gandhi as new chief product officer". MARKETECH APAC. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
19. ^ "Robin Gandhi, Nium Pte Ltd: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
20. ^ "Nium appoints Dylan Lowrey to General Counsel". Finextra Research. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
21. ^ "Nium Appoints Dylan Lowrey to General Counsel". ffnews.com. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
22. ^ Dugdale, Mark (2022-03-28). "Nium appoints general counsel". FinTech Intel. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
23. ^ "Nium acquires Socash". Finextra Research. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
24. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
25. ^ "Nium launches real-time payments to Malaysia". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
26. ^ "Nium Expands Real-Time Payments to Malaysia". ffnews.com. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
27. ^ Woffenden, Claire (2022-05-23). "Nium Secures Broader Licence Capabilities in Malaysia". The Fintech Times. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
28. ^ "Nium and Stellar Development Foundation enable payouts in 190 countries". Finextra Research. 2022-06-22. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
29. ^ "Nium Collaborates with Stellar Development Foundation". Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
30. ^ www.ETHRWorld.com. "Nium appoints Ramana Satyavarapu as Chief Technology Officer - ETHRWorld". ETHRWorld.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
31. ^ PYMNTS (2022-12-09). "Crypto 1 Acquisition to Liquidate 12 Months After $230M IPO". www.pymnts.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
32. ^ Woffenden, Claire (2022-10-04). "This Week in Fintech: TFT Bi-Weekly News Roundup 04/10". The Fintech Times. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
33. ^ "Nium launches closed-loop payments solution for airlines, OTAs". thepaypers.com. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
34. ^ "Paycell partners with Nium to boost international money transfers". IBS Intelligence. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
35. ^ "GIC-Backed $2 Billion Fintech Nium Targets US IPO in Two Years". Bloomberg.com. 2023-07-04. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
36. ^ Singh, Arti (4 July 2017). "Singapore fintech startup Instarem raises $13 mn to expand payment infra, Mumbai ops". VCCiRCLE. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
37. ^ Editorial, Asia. "Fintech Asia: InstaReM". FINTECHASIA. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
38. ^ Balea, Judith. "Fintech startup Instarem raises $5m from investors led by Vertex Ventures". TechInAsia. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
39. ^ "Singapore fintech startup Instarem raises $13 mn to expand payment infra, Mumbai ops". VCCircle. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
40. ^ Variyar, Mugdha (2017-07-04). "Singapore startup InstaRem, with Indian cofounder, raises $13 million". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
41. ^ Russell, Jon (2017-07-04). "Cross-border payment startup InstaRem eyes IPO in 2020 after closing $13M Series B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
42. ^ Variyar, Mugdha. "Singapore payments startup Instarem raises $13 million funding". The Economic Times. ETtech. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
43. ^ Russell, Jon (2018-11-22). "Cross-border fintech startup Instarem raises $20M for global expansion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
44. ^ Hall, Christine (2021-07-27). "Nium crosses $1B valuation with $200M Riverwood Capital-led round". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
45. ^ "Singaporean payments firm Nium raises over $200 mln to become 'unicorn'". Reuters. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
46. ^ "Singapore Fintech Startup Nium Tops $1 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg.com. 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
47. ^ "B2B payments startup Nium doubles valuation to $2b with latest fundraising". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
48. ^ "Illegal Loans: ED freezes Rs 123-cr of Singapore-based shell firms parked in bank accounts of Mumbai-based NIUM India". The Economic Times. 2024-02-29. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2024-03-23.
49. ^ "Press Release 28.02.2024" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Enforcement (ED). 2024-02-24.

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