Times Internet spin-out Abound raises $14M to let more Indian Americans send money home

Abound, a remittance app that was spun off by Times Internet in 2023, has raised $14 million in its first external funding round as it aims to reach more Indian expats in the U.S.

Remittance flows to India are rising as the Indian diaspora spreads worldwide. In 2024, the South Asian country recorded $129.1 billion in remittances, accounting for 14.3% share of the global market and topping the charts, according to a World Bank report. Abound aims to tap this growth with its mobile app.

“Indians are among the largest immigrant groups in the U.S. The average household income in the U.S. is close to $58,000, and the average Indian household income is about $150,000. That tells you that Indian expats are wealthy, affluent, and yet they’re vastly underserved in terms of products and services that are geared for them,” said Nishkaam Mehta, CEO of Abound, in an interview.

Mehta, who worked at Hulu as head of its mobile strategy and growth for more than four years, joined Times Internet in 2019 after meeting its vice chairman Satyan Gajwani to create a “super app” for non-resident Indians. The startup was incubated at the tech arm of Indian media conglomerate, The Times of India Group.

Initially named Times Club, Abound allows users to send money to India, earn rewards, and get cashback on services including live sports streaming, grocery shopping, and OTT subscriptions. The firm has plans to explore avenues to let users access high-yield savings, India-focused investments, and cross-border credit solutions.

“In our model as a super app, we envision a role for banks themselves to be a part of the platform,” Mehta told TechCrunch.

The company claims it has processed over $150 million in remittances in total from its more than 500,000 monthly transacting users, and that its revenue has increased by 50% month-over-month since launch.

Abound’s remittance volume increased by 15% every month and the startup processed $110 million to $120 million in the past 12 months, Mehta said.

Abound generates ad revenue from rewards and foreign exchange spread on money remittances. Foreign exchange presents significant potential for growth, Mehta stated. The startup said The Times of India’s over 50 million monthly online visitors outside India also help it reach new users and offer a range of rewards.

“In money remittances, if you purely play the exchange rate game, then you’re always acquiring the user,” said Mehta. “In our case, because we’ve got this rewards layer from the Times of India and other local advertisers, we don’t have that problem. We can always compete on exchange rates, knowing that we don’t have the same customer acquisition cost that the other companies might have.” 

This seed round was all-equity, and was led by NEAR Foundation, with participation from Circle Ventures, Times Internet, and other investors. The company plans to use the fresh cash to expand its presence, increase its offerings and improve its tech infrastructure.

“Traditional banks in the U.S. don’t focus on the financial requirements of this segment because there is no banking product built just for the NRI population. We see that as a large gap and opportunity,” said Gajwani.

Following the deal, Times Internet will continue to be the largest stakeholder in Abound. Gajwani told TechCrunch the Times Internet would be “using its strategic assets to help accelerate Abound’s growth.”

The market of platforms enabling foreign remittances is crowded with incumbents such as Western Union, PayPal and MoneyGram, as well as newer players like Remitly and Wise. But Mehta thinks Abound has an edge as it “super serves” users by offering competitive exchange rates as well as rewards and cashback at about 5,000 Indian grocery stores and access to live-streamed cricket — by far the most popular sport in India.

Abound currently has a team of 40 people, primarily based in India. It plans to expand its headcount and set up an executive team in the U.S. as well.

In time, the firm plans to enter markets such as Canada, Singapore and the UAE, which all have big populations of non-resident Indians. Nonetheless, Mehta said the immediate focus is to cement its footing in the U.S. and then run pilots in foreign markets.