Remitly, the Jeff Bezos-backed mobile remittance service, has acquired Talio, a mobile messaging company that allows for images and text to disappear, snapchat-style, if the user so wishes.
The agreement sees Talio’s entire team, including founders Piragash Velummylum and Jordan Timmermann, developers and engineers, become part of Remitly.
The messaging background in Talio’s team builds on Remitly’s expertise in mobile services. The company was the first to add messaging to a mobile remittance app in 2013. The acquisition signals Remitly’s focus on messaging development and the company says it will lead to new types of mobile communications between customers.
Remitly also revealed this week that its customers are sending more than $300 million annually using Remitly’s app.
The company’s customer base grew nearly 400 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year. Remitly currently has more than 50 employees in its Seattle headquarters.
After raising $12.5m in Series B funding in March, the company plans to continue its aggressive hiring and will expand its office space.
“Sending money home to loved ones is an extremely personal gesture. We want to build mobile apps that create richer connections for our customers. Combining mobile payments with mobile messaging is uncharted territory in our industry – we want to create mobile connections that today nobody can imagine,” said Matt Oppenheimer, CEO of Remitly.
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