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Abound , a remittal app that wasspun off by Times Internetin 2023 , has raise $ 14 million in its first external funding round as it aims to reach more Indian expats in the U.S.
Remittance flux to India are rising as the Amerindic diaspora spreads worldwide . In 2024 , the South Asian country recorded$129.1 billion in remittances , accounting for 14.3 % share of the global marketplace and top the charts , according to a World Bank report . Abound purport to intercept this growth with its mobile app .
“ Indians are among the largest immigrant grouping in the U.S. The average menage income in the U.S. is tightlipped to $ 58,000 , and the average Indian household income is about $ 150,000 . That tells you that Native American expats are wealthy , affluent , and yet they ’re vastly underserved in terms of product and service that are geared for them , ” said Nishkaam Mehta , chief executive officer of Abound , in an interview .
Mehta , who worked at Hulu as head of peregrine strategy and growing for more than four twelvemonth , joined Times Internet in 2019 after meeting its frailty chairman Satyan Gajwani to create a “ topnotch app ” for nonresident Indians . The startup was incubate at the tech arm of Indian media conglomerate , The Times of India Group .
ab initio cite Times Club , Abound allows users to send money to India , realize wages , and get John Cash back on services , including alive sports cyclosis , grocery shopping , and OTT subscriptions . The firm has design to explore avenues to lease user get at high - issue savings , India - focused investments , and cross - border deferred payment solutions .
“ In our model as a super app , we envision a theatrical role for bank themselves to be a part of the platform , ” Mehta told TechCrunch .
The caller claims it has process over $ 150 million in remittances in totality from its more than 500,000 monthly transacting users and that its revenue has increase by 50 % calendar month - over - month since launching .
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Abound ’s remission bulk increased by 15 % every month and the startup processed $ 110 million to $ 120 million in the past 12 months , Mehta said .
Abound generates ad revenue from rewards and alien exchange spread on money remittal . strange exchange presents pregnant potential for development , Mehta say . The startup said The Times of India ’s over 50 million monthly online visitor outside India also help it reach new user and offer a range of rewards .
“ In money remittances , if you purely diddle the exchange charge per unit biz , then you ’re always larn the user , ” said Mehta . “ In our case , because we ’ve get this rewards layer from the Times of India and other local advertisers , we do n’t have that job . We can always compete on exchange rates , roll in the hay that we do n’t have the same client acquisition toll that the other companies might have . ”
This seminal fluid rung was all - equity and was lead by NEAR Foundation , with participation from Circle Ventures , Times Internet , and other investors . The company plans to use the sweet cash to expand its bearing , increase its offer , and improve its tech substructure .
“ Traditional banks in the U.S. do n’t sharpen on the fiscal requirement of this segment because there is no banking production built just for the NRI universe . We see that as a large gap and chance , ” said Gajwani .
The market place of platforms enabling strange remitment is crowded with officeholder such as Western Union , PayPal , and MoneyGram , as well as new participant like Remitly and Wise . But Mehta thinks Abound has an sharpness as it “ tiptop serves ” users by offering free-enterprise interchange rates as well as rewards and cash back at about 5,000 Amerind grocery stores and access to livestreamed cricket — by far the most popular sport in India .
Abound presently has a team of 40 people , chiefly based in India . It plans to expand its head count and set up an executive team in the U.S. as well .
In clock time , the firm plans to enter market such as Canada , Singapore , and the UAE , which all have braggy population of nonresident Indians . Nonetheless , Mehta said the immediate focus is to cement its ground in the U.S. and then run pilots in foreign market .
