New York, Feb. 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SendFriend, the next-generation remittance service and currently, the smartest way to send money to the Philippines, today announced it has raised $1.7M in total capital to better enable Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to securely transfer USD to PHP at the lowest rate available. The funding comes from MIT Media Lab, Barclays, the Mastercard Foundation, Ripple, Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures, and 8 Decimal Capital.

More than $45 billion in fees on remittance services, which often take 3-5 days, was spent last year by the millions of migrants in the U.S. who send home more than $650 billion in remittances. SendFriend will launch as the only option for OFWs to securely and reliably send money internationally with fees that are 65% lower than the industry average as it replaces the frictions and fees of the banking system with one seamless, ultra low cost experience to send money globally.

Through a partnership with blockchain company Ripple, SendFriend leverages xRapid to create a seamless money transfer experience. XRP is used as a liquidity vehicle for cross-border payments, enabling SendFriend to circumvent the corresponding banking system and convert USD to XRP to PHP in a matter of seconds.

"SendFriend has built strong partnerships along its supply chain, while developing a foundation to significantly minimize friction in the system. This is a highly competitive space with longtime incumbents, but we are confident in the success of SendFriend," said Yuan Ruan, Founder of 8 Decimal Capital. "SendFriend has a good combination of an experienced team, large $650 billion remittance market, investors that provide more than just capital, and a growth strategy focused on more than revenue from transactions including APIs and white-label solutions."

“We are humbled by the support of our investors, who share in our vision to reduce the costs and improve the experience for the millions of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who send money home to support their families,” said David Lighton, SendFriend co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “This investment will allow us to build out our team, focus on community engagement, and marketing efforts.“  

Founded at MIT by a group of experienced individuals with roots at The World Bank and MoneyGram who believe that there is a better way for Overseas Filipino Workers to support their families from afar, SendFriend was accepted into the Barclays Accelerator Program, Powered by Techstars, to further build out its customer-first solution.  
SendFriend plans to launch in New Jersey but will soon be available to OFWs in other states via desktop and mobile. Customers can now request early access and claim three fee-free transactions by visiting https://www.sendfriend.io/.

ABOUT SENDFRIEND
SendFriend’s vision is to empower the millions of Overseas Filipino Workers who overpay for international money transfers every year. Through blockchain technology and a partnership agreement with Ripple, SendFriend offers a secure, intuitive, and low-fee solution which reduces the cost of remittance payments by 65% from the industry average. SendFriend is led by a smart and experienced team with roots at The World Bank, MIT, MoneyGram, and Harvard Business School and its investors include the MIT Media Lab, Barclays, the Mastercard Foundation, Techstars, and Mahindra Finance. For more information and to sign up for SendFriend, please visit https://www.sendfriend.io/.