Abound, a remittance app that was spun off by Occasions Web in 2023, has raised $14 million in its first exterior funding spherical because it goals to succeed in extra Indian expats within the U.S.
Remittance flows to India are rising because the Indian diaspora spreads worldwide. In 2024, the South Asian nation recorded $129.1 billion in remittances, accounting for 14.3% share of the worldwide market and topping the charts, based on a World Financial institution report. Abound goals to faucet this progress with its cell app.
“Indians are among the many largest immigrant teams within the U.S. The common family earnings within the U.S. is near $58,000, and the common Indian family earnings is about $150,000. That tells you that Indian expats are rich, prosperous, and but they’re vastly underserved when it comes to services and products which are geared for them,” mentioned Nishkaam Mehta, CEO of Abound, in an interview.
Mehta, who labored at Hulu as head of its cell technique and progress for greater than 4 years, joined Occasions Web in 2019 after assembly its vice chairman Satyan Gajwani to create a “tremendous app” for non-resident Indians. The startup was incubated on the tech arm of Indian media conglomerate, The Occasions of India Group.
Initially named Occasions Membership, Abound permits customers to ship cash to India, earn rewards, and get cashback on companies together with dwell sports activities streaming, grocery procuring, and OTT subscriptions. The agency has plans to discover avenues to let customers entry high-yield financial savings, India-focused investments, and cross-border credit score options.
“In our mannequin as a brilliant app, we envision a task for banks themselves to be part of the platform,” Mehta informed TechCrunch.
The corporate claims it has processed over $150 million in remittances in complete from its greater than 500,000 month-to-month transacting customers, and that its income has elevated by 50% month-over-month since launch.
Abound’s remittance quantity elevated by 15% each month and the startup processed $110 million to $120 million prior to now 12 months, Mehta mentioned.
Abound generates advert income from rewards and overseas change unfold on cash remittances. International change presents important potential for progress, Mehta acknowledged. The startup mentioned The Occasions of India’s over 50 million month-to-month on-line guests exterior India additionally assist it attain new customers and supply a spread of rewards.
“In cash remittances, should you purely play the change fee sport, then you definitely’re at all times buying the person,” mentioned Mehta. “In our case, as a result of we’ve received this rewards layer from the Occasions of India and different native advertisers, we don’t have that downside. We are able to at all times compete on change charges, understanding that we don’t have the identical buyer acquisition price that the opposite corporations might need.”
This seed spherical was all-equity, and was led by NEAR Basis, with participation from Circle Ventures, Occasions Web, and different buyers. The corporate plans to make use of the contemporary money to broaden its presence, improve its choices and enhance its tech infrastructure.
“Conventional banks within the U.S. don’t give attention to the monetary necessities of this section as a result of there is no such thing as a banking product constructed only for the NRI inhabitants. We see that as a big hole and alternative,” mentioned Gajwani.
Following the deal, Occasions Web will proceed to be the biggest stakeholder in Abound. Gajwani informed TechCrunch the Occasions Web could be “utilizing its strategic property to assist speed up Abound’s progress.”
The market of platforms enabling overseas remittances is crowded with incumbents resembling Western Union, PayPal and MoneyGram, in addition to newer gamers like Remitly and Smart. However Mehta thinks Abound has an edge because it “tremendous serves” customers by providing aggressive change charges in addition to rewards and cashback at about 5,000 Indian grocery shops and entry to live-streamed cricket — by far the preferred sport in India.
Abound presently has a workforce of 40 folks, based in India. It plans to broaden its headcount and arrange an government workforce within the U.S. as properly.
In time, the agency plans to enter markets resembling Canada, Singapore and the UAE, which all have massive populations of non-resident Indians. Nonetheless, Mehta mentioned the quick focus is to cement its footing within the U.S. after which run pilots in overseas markets.
