setting the scene

• millions of American immigrants work to support themselves and their families living in their native countries 💸
• to send money across borders, these individuals have two options:
  • wait in long lines at the bank or post office and pay a large fee 💰
  • use online money transfer platforms that are difficult to navigate and prone to scams 🙄
• this week’s company disrupts how people send money abroad by eliminating the wait time, large fees, and inefficient technology 💡

in a sentence

Félix is a tool that enables users to send money to LatAm countries 

• tool: a WhatsApp chatbot that asks users the amount and recipient of the remittance
• LatAm: currently available in Mexico and expanding to other Latin American countries

bulleted version: similar to how a banker or post office clerk helps you send money abroad, Félix provides an automated chatbot that puts the experience right in your pocket 📱

the basics

• industry: fintech, ai, blockchain, remittances
• headquarters: San Francisco, CA 🌁
• year founded: 2021
• company size: <25 employees 💼
• investors: Global Founders Capital, Wollef, Switch, H20 Capital Innovation, Contour, Dorm Room Fund, The MBA Fund, Mike Levinthal, Jeff Flake, Luis Garza
• amount raised: $3.8m post pre-seed funding
• business model: $2.99 flat transaction fee + FX spread

sponsored by 

• are you a founder looking to build an impressive pitch deck? or an investor helping to refine a portco’s deck?
  
• check out Base Templates, the affordable, easy-to-use pitch deck template that offers 300+ components to make a customized, beautifully designed deck
• improve your pitch deck today
  

due diligence

what we like

• 📈 market: out of the $605b in remittances sent in 2021, ~$125b were sent to Latin America and the Caribbean, up 26% from the previous year
  • Mexico is the ideal entry market, with over $50b sent last year
• 💪🏾 flexing on the competitors: Félix provides an inexpensive and easy alternative to banks and the postal service while maintaining the personalized experience missing from tech-enabled solutions
• 💬 WhatsApp: by reaching the target audience where they already are, Félix will be able to efficiently acquire customers and expand quickly to fit their needs
  

potential risks

• 📊 market players: for the past decade, money transfer startups have come and gone, but legacy companies have held onto a majority of market share
• 🔁 no recurring revenue: Félix earns a fee for every transaction, and the company’s revenue is reliant on consumer demand to send money
• 🥷🏻fraud risk: while Félix has developed a comprehensive security program to protect users from fraud, scammers have historically targeted online money transfer applications

founder profiles

• Bernardo Garcia (prev. @ Uber, McKinsey)
• Manuel Godoy (prev. @ MicroSilicon, BCG)

comps

• Western Union
• Money Gram
• Remitly
• Xoom
• Remitbee

why Félix: with 50% monthly growth, 60% retention, and positive customer feedback, Félix’s personalized and affordable solution for sending remittances hits its customers’ pain points on the money 💵