Former Google and Spotify exec launches subscription-based, international money-transfer service
Higlobe saves users on average 1-6% in transaction commissions, allowing freelancers and small businesses to keep up to thousands of dollars more a year
PALO ALTO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#BatteryVentures—Higlobe, Inc., the U.S. based solution for international payment transfers, raised $14 million in funding to expand its technology and launch into new markets. The funding round was led by global technology investment firm Battery Ventures, an investor in a number of U.S.-based fintech companies. Battery Senior Partner Scott Tobin will join Higlobe’s board. Higlobe uses asset-backed stablecoins to provide an efficient and cost-effective means of making cross-border payments between bank accounts.
“Our mission is to move the world’s money instantly and at no cost to help the increasingly global workforce get more money back to their home bank account,” said CEO and Co-founder Teymour H. Farman-Farmaian, who leveraged his experience at Spotify to build Higlobe as a subscription-based payments platform. “Our clients only pay a fixed, low-cost subscription for a U.S. receiving bank account regardless of the number of transfers they make. We want to make working and getting paid easier and faster, particularly as the pandemic has fueled even more interest in remote work.”
Higlobe facilitates fast and easy payments for freelancers
Demand for online freelance work is growing at an annual rate of 10%, according to the Online Labour Index, creating an advantageous situation for a highly skilled, global remote workforce. This increase in hiring benefits both employees, who are looking for flexibility and higher wages, and employers, who are looking for skilled workers and to reduce costs. There are many skilled developers, designers, and engineers throughout Latin America who find it beneficial to get paid in U.S. dollars.
“I’ve hired dozens of contractors in the last decade who love working for a U.S. company, but they always complain about how much money they’d lose each month and how complicated it is to get paid,” said Higlobe Co-Founder and CTO Jeff Bolton.
There are more than 14 million self-employed (freelance) workers in Mexico alone, according to the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography. Higlobe serves freelance workers and small businesses in Mexico working for U.S. based companies and plans to launch in Brazil later this year. By doing so, Higlobe plans to take a bite out of the estimated $21 trillion cross-border payments market.
One Higlobe customer based in Mexico, small business owner and freelance marketer Bernardo Loce, noted that in some cases with his work, “getting the payment was more difficult than the actual job! And the payment that I received in the end was so much less after all the commissions and foreign exchange fees. If I had understood the complexity involved in getting paid beforehand, I would’ve thought twice about taking the job. When I use Higlobe I don’t have to worry about commissions and I get my money quickly.”
Higlobe is the first zero transaction-fee payment service launching in Mexico
Higlobe’s service offers customers the ability to make multiple transfers per month for one flat rate, making it less expensive than other cross-border payment providers. Current competitors charge between one and six percent per cross-border payment, often in a combination of hidden exchange rates and fees. Higlobe simplifies the process by charging a monthly subscription fee as low as $4.99 for a U.S. receiving bank account, regardless of the number of transfers made.
Higlobe is currently available in Mexico, free for a limited time, to Mexican citizens or legal permanent residents that work with business clients in the U.S. Users can sign up for Higlobe’s service online where they must provide proof of identity and residence.
Higlobe exclusively uses stablecoins issued by companies that are regulated and supervised by U.S. federal or state agencies and that are 1:1 backed by U.S. dollars or U.S. government treasury securities.
“Higlobe’s unique application of stablecoin is poised to disrupt the global payments industry,” said Battery’s Scott Tobin. “The blockchain provides a safe and speedy solution to an archaic system that disadvantages so many workers, and by leveraging this new technology, Higlobe can change the lives of millions of members of the global remote workforce. We are excited to partner with Teymour and his team to scale the company and its services.”
About Higlobe, Inc.
Higlobe, Inc. is a financial technology company revolutionizing the world of cross-border payments. Founded in 2020 by Teymour H. Farman-Farmaian and Jeff Bolton, they used their global experience to build an international payment transfer solution that leverages stablecoins that are 1:1 backed by U.S. dollars or U.S. government treasury securities to transfer money quickly. Higlobe’s investors include Battery Ventures, TTV Capital, FjLabs, Reciprocal Ventures, Paxos, DCG, Raptor Group, and Gokul Rajaram. Follow Higlobe on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
About Battery Ventures
Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams to develop category-defining businesses in industries including software and services, enterprise infrastructure, consumer technology, healthcare IT and industrial tech/life-sciences tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, London, New York, and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on Twitter @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery’s portfolio companies here.
Contacts
Stephanie Gnibus
stephanie@gmkcommunications.com
Erica Rose Thomas
erica.thomas@higlobe.com
