Global cross border payment group Zepz appoints new CFO as it reaches profitability in H1 '22

• Zepz Group today reported 67% revenue growth in 2021 (from $238M in 2020 to $399M in 2021)

• Robert Mitchell appointed as Group CFO to further fuel Zepz growth plans

• H1 2022 has seen Zepz reach profitability while continuing to drive strong growth

September 27, 2022 - Zepz, the group making remittance payments fair, fast and affordable by powering global cross-border remittance brands WorldRemit and Sendwave, today announced the 2021 financial results that will be published in its upcoming Companies House Listing Annual Report as well as an H1 ‘22 performance update, alongside the appointment of its new Group CFO, Robert Mitchell.

Mitchell has held several financial leadership roles including CFO of PayPal’s Venmo, where he led the team that expanded Venmo’s platform to include cryptocurrencies, a co-branded credit card and commerce services. Most recently, Mitchell was the CFO at Fast, an online checkout company acquired by Affirm, where he also served as a member of its Board of Directors. He brings over a decade of experience in global senior finance and operational roles delivering growth and profitability for payments and fintech businesses.

Mark Lenhard, Group CEO, Zepz says: “We are delighted to welcome Robert to the executive management team at Zepz. Based in New York, Robert’s expertise in running scaled global payments, credit and financial services operations makes him ideal to help enable the future growth of Zepz.” 

2021 Financial Results

Following the announcement of the SendWave acquisition in February 2021, and the group’s $292M Series E fundraising in August 2021, its revenue grew 67% from $238M in 2020 to $399M in 2021. The Group has continued to build a global network of direct relationships with financial institutions, mobile telecommunications companies and other business partners, connected to service our millions of customers via our mobile cross-border payments platform.

2021 Full year Financial Highlights (all figures USD):

• Group revenue growth from $238M in 2020 to $399M in 2021: +67%

• Group loss from $55M in 2020 to $151M in 2021: +174%

• Adjusted EBITDA loss from -25.9 in 2020 to -58.1 in 2021  

Zepz H1 2022 Performance Update

Zepz has spent the first half of the year focusing on both the profitability of the business as well as an efficient approach to growth. Investments into marketing, talent and technology have enabled Zepz to deliver payback on customer acquisition costs within six months and pave the way for more aggressive growth in the future. 

WorldRemit has continued to deliver on its purpose to enrich the world by championing the movement of money, knowledge and ideas in H1. This will enable five countries in the world to receive over half a billion US Dollars of remittances through WorldRemit this year. In the first half of the year WorldRemit users have sent more than US $2B to the African continent.

In core African markets, WorldRemit saw 35%+ year over year volume growth. In core Asian markets, year-over-year growth is over 20%. Notably, more than 20 million remittance transactions have been sent to the Philippines in the company’s history. 

Sendwave continues to experience steep growth by making the sending of money from anywhere as easy and affordable as sending a text, with total H1 2022 send volume growing more than 30% year over year globally. Multiple new send corridors were launched in 2020, which have grown over 150% in the first half of the year.

Looking ahead at the future of Zepz, and the fintech and remittance industry at-large, Robert Mitchell, Group CFO says: “I am excited to take a leadership role here at this incredible time. Our 2021 and H1 ‘22 numbers show swift profitable growth that proves the grit of this organization and the resilience of its customers as they face increasing inflationary and recessionary pressures.”

Press Enquiries

About WorldRemit

We are a leading global payments company and, along with Sendwave, part of Zepz, a group powering two global remittance brands. 

We disrupted an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by taking international money transfers online – making them safer, faster and lower cost. We currently operate in more than 5,000 money transfer corridors worldwide and as part of Zepz, are part of a 1,400 person global workforce.

Sending money with WorldRemit is 100% digital (cashless), increasing convenience and enhancing security. For those receiving money, we offer a wide range of options, including bank transfer, cash pickup, airtime top up and mobile money. 

Backed by Accel, TCV and Leapfrog – WorldRemit’s headquarters are in London, United Kingdom, with regional offices in the United States, Poland, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Somaliland, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Belgium.

About Zepz

Zepz Group is the group powering leading global remittance brands: WorldRemit and Sendwave. Since 2021, Zepz Group has been disrupting an industry previously dominated by offline legacy players by reducing the barriers to finance and increasing safety and convenience for users. Every day, Zepz Group and its brands work towards unlocking the prosperity of cross-border communities through finance and technology - driven by the vision of a world that celebrates migrants’ impact on prosperity, at home and abroad.

Zepz Group brands have helped cross-border communities send over $15bn from 50 countries, to recipients in 130 countries in 2022, and operate over 5,000 money transfer corridors worldwide. Zepz Group employs over 1,400 people globally as a remote-first employer, with team members located across six continents.