Fintech Startup for Immigrants Raises third round in 15 months
- US fintech Majority has raised $37.5 million in new funding in a new internal round.
- The startup offers financial services such as banking and money transfers to immigrants for a monthly fee.
- The majority of users can access a bank account, a debit card and international calls.
Majority, a fintech that offers a range of banking services to immigrants in the US, has raised $37.5 million in new funding.
The company, founded in 2019 by Swede Magnus Larsson, offers services such as bank accounts and debit cards even if users do not have a social security number. It also offers transfers and cross-border calls at a low cost for a monthly fee of $5.99.
Immigrants to the United States often lack the necessary documentation to do things like open a bank account without proof of address or social security number, which also affects access to school places or renting a home or car. The majority aims to solve some of the problems immigrants face, such as allowing them to open accounts with public ID from another country.
“Countries are only built for people who live in those countries, so when we work with immigrant communities around the world, we decided to build a membership product that took away predatory fees,” Larsson told Insider. “Many important systems are not in place for immigrants, and while we charge a monthly fee, most users save money on our service.”
Majority works with a network of several hundred local advisors on the ground in Texas and Florida to work directly with diaspora communities, but the company’s app is available in all 50 states. The startup has a team of around 45 employees in Sweden along with a growing commercial team in the US, where Larsson recently moved.
The Series B round was led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures alongside Heartcore Capital – Majority’s third round led by existing investors. The startup has raised three rounds of funding since June 2021 with $83.5 million raised to date following Series A in December 2021.
For Larsson, raising so soon after Series A was not on the agenda, but market conditions led to a reassessment of the company’s runway.
“We looked at the market and had the opportunity to do it now while we have good momentum,” he said. “You don’t want to spend all your time raising money, and having this investor confidence is a luxury that allows us to make a good runway, while others struggle.”
The funding is set to go towards building out existing products, many of which have benefited from the push to digitize financial services in the US caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of employees in both Sweden and the US will continue to increase as the majority appear to be working with new immigrant communities and working on larger projects, Larsson said.
The majority did not explicitly use a pitch deck for their funding round, but below is a version originally put together by the company that has been updated:
