LemFi, a fast-growing fintech company simplifying remittance payments for immigrants, has secured $33 million in Series A funding to expand its zero-fee international money transfer services.
The funding round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Y-Combinator, Zrosk, Global Founders Capital, and Olive Tree. With this new investment, LemFi has now raised just under $34 million since its launch in 2019.
Solving a Major Problem for Migrants
Every year, millions of people move to Europe, Canada, and the U.S. for work, studies, or permanent residency. In 2019, Canada alone welcomed 341,000 new permanent residents, continuing a trend of increasing immigration—except for 2020, when the pandemic slowed migration worldwide.
For many migrants, sending money home is a constant challenge due to high fees, slow transactions, and complicated banking systems. In 2022, global remittances reached $626 billion, a crucial source of foreign exchange for African countries. However, traditional remittance options are often:
- Expensive – With fees eating up to 8% of each transaction
- Slow – Transfers can take days or even weeks
- Complex – Multiple systems (banks, money transfer services, and informal operators like Hawala) make the process difficult
LemFi is changing this by offering instant, zero-fee money transfers, making it easier and cheaper for immigrants to send money home.
The Birth of LemFi: Making Remittances Easy
In 2020, amidst the global pandemic, co-founders Ridwan Olalere and Rian Cochran launched LemFi (formerly Lemonade Finance) to serve African migrants in Canada. Their goal was to eliminate the high costs and inefficiencies of sending money home.
Prior to LemFi, transferring money internationally often required combining multiple services, and receiving money from Africa was even more difficult. LemFi changed that by offering direct, instant transfers with no hidden fees.
“In 2020, we set out to claim our space in global financial services, starting with African immigrants,” Cochran told TechCabal.
Both founders have deep experience in the payments industry:
- Ridwan Olalere previously helped build key products at Flutterwave and led Uber Nigeria’s operations.
- Rian Cochran was Senior Finance Director at Opera Software AS, overseeing payments as OPay expanded rapidly in Nigeria.
- The two met while working on OPay, where they developed payment solutions for the African market.
Rapid Expansion: From Canada to the UK and Beyond
LemFi’s service quickly gained traction, expanding to the UK in 2021. Today, the company supports 10+ African remittance corridors and is now working to serve migrants from other emerging markets.
Instead of charging transaction fees, LemFi makes money from small foreign exchange (FX) spreads, allowing it to keep remittances free for users.
Unlike other fintechs that rely on stablecoins for cross-border transfers, LemFi operates within traditional financial systems. Earlier this year, it received an International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), allowing users to send money directly to Nigerian bank accounts without intermediaries.
Why This Matters for Africa
African countries, struggling with foreign exchange shortages, rely heavily on remittances to boost reserves. Some, like Egypt, are even considering partnering with fintechs to encourage more formal remittance channels.
By making it easier for migrants in North America and Europe to send money home, LemFi is helping African economies stay afloat.
What’s Next for LemFi?
With this new funding, LemFi is working on acquiring licenses in the European Union to expand its services to migrant workers across Europe.
“There’s still a huge opportunity to build solutions for migrants from emerging markets who need better financial services,” Cochran said.
LemFi’s vision is clear: to be the go-to financial service provider for migrants from the Global South living in the Global North.
