Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer steps down, handing reins of fintech company to ex-Amazon boss
Remitly founder Matt Oppenheimer is stepping down as CEO after nearly 15 years growing the Seattle-based digital remittance company into a profitable, publicly traded fintech giant valued at $3 billion.
Technology and finance veteran Sebastian Gunningham will replace Oppenheimer, effective Feb. 19. Oppenheimer will become chairman as the company leans toward what it calls its next chapter.
“This change is not a step back. It is about stepping up to a role that is more beneficial to Remitly’s long-term success,” Oppenheimer wrote in an email to employees. He emphasized that the change in leadership “did not happen overnight,” when he went to the company’s board “some time ago” to discuss long-term succession plans.
Gunningham previously led Amazon’s marketplaces and payments businesses, working directly for Jeff Bezos, and was a member of Amazon’s “S-team.” He also briefly served as co-CEO at WeWork and most recently helped lead the digital transformation at Spanish banking giant Santander. “I have long admired Remitly’s work and the real difference it makes in people’s lives,” Gunningham said in a statement.
Remitly stock rose more than 10% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
The CEO change marks the end of an era for Oppenheimer and Remitly, which also on Wednesday reported a double-digit increase in customers and transaction volume in the fourth quarter, and adjusted EBITDA of $88.6 million, nearly double the previous year. Shipping volume on the platform increased 35% to $20.8 billion.
Remitly’s mobile technology allows people to send and receive money across borders, including US and UK immigrants supporting families back home in countries like the Philippines, India, El Salvador, and others. The service eliminates the many forms, codes, and agents typically associated with international money transfers.
Remitly’s story began more than a decade ago after Oppenheimer recently returned from Kenya, where he worked for Barclays and saw how difficult it was for families to send and receive money overseas.
He teamed up with co-founders Josh Hug and Shivaas Gulati, taking Remitly from a small startup that graduated from Techstars Seattle in 2011 to a global remittance player battling incumbents like Western Union and MoneyGram. Remitly has raised nearly $400 million from private investors and will go public in 2021 at a valuation of $7 billion.
Remily now has more than 9.3 million active users per quarter – up 19% year-on-year – and employs 3,200 people worldwide. It reported $442.2 million in Q4 revenue, up 26% year over year.
The company has been making innovations that keep outgoings important but add products such as a small business payments service, a membership offering with multiple wallets and payment cards, the ability to access a line of credit, and new stablecoin-based balance tools.
The latest earnings language notes that Remitly is evolving beyond a remittance company into a diversified, cross-border financial services provider, serving both consumers and businesses across a growing set of use cases.
In his letter to employees, Oppenheimer highlighted Gunningham’s personal story – “Argentine by birth, Scottish by heritage, and American journey” – noting that he brings a global perspective that resonates with the company’s client base. “He knows what it’s like to navigate the global financial services system,” Oppenheimer wrote. “You understand that we’re not just moving money, but we’re moving hope.”
Oppenheimer, who won Ernst & Young’s Pacific Northwest Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2016, told employees that he will remain Remitly’s largest shareholder “outside of sales plans” and will remain “very busy as chairman, not as an executive in the business where I will stop working for Sebastian.” He said he intends to spend more time on cross-industry projects where Remitly’s scale and technology can address systemic issues; invest more energy in external relations and more board roles; and be more present with his family while pursuing personal goals such as training for a Half Ironman in July.
“This change is not an end. A renewal. A deep commitment to the vision we had from the beginning,” he wrote. “Thank you, I’m humbled. And I’m excited about the bright future ahead.”
