YC-backed Bamboo expands to Canada with remittance product

Bamboo, the Y Combinator-backed investment app that allows Africans to buy and trade local and international stocks, is expanding to Canada after securing the country’s Money Service Business (MSB) licence.

The company also launched its remittance payment service, Coins by Bamboo. The product will enable diaspora money transfers to Africa, to reduce high cross-border fees through fee-free transfers and competitive exchange rates.

“With many Africans now away from the continent, many want to invest back home, but complexity, high commissions and fees discourage it. A way to start is by addressing these pain points, which is why we are offering Coins” Richmond Bassey, Bamboo’s co-founder and CEO said.

Bamboo’s expansion to Canada was from a business standpoint. In 2022, Nigeria was the fourth-largest immigration source country to Canada, with 22,085 Nigerians welcomed into the country.

”Based on insights, one of the countries our users have emigrated to the most is Canada with the UK on top of the list. This means more use for the app in Canada before we go into the UK and other markets,” Bassey said.

Founded in 2019 by Richmond Bassey and COO Yanmo Omorogbe, Bamboo has seen some success since launching in Nigeria in 2020. In 2022, the company raised $15 million in a round led by American venture capital firms Greycroft and Tiger Global. Bamboo claims it has 500,000 users.

With its remittance play, Bamboo is entering a competitive remittance market with well-established players like Grey Finance, Lemfi, Kyshi, and Nala. “The remittance market is huge, I don’t think one player can solve the problem. The difference is in the goal and what the company is trying to achieve”, Bassey added.

While these companies primarily generate revenue from transaction fees and commissions which often include varying exchange rates for currency conversions, Coins by Bamboo will offer fee-free transfers and competitive exchange rates to customers.

“This is just the first stage for us to solve a problem that will be useful in serving the diaspora. It is a means to an end, we are building a set of products that will support Africans everywhere. When we look at the cost and opportunities for offering Coins by Bamboo transaction-free, we are satisfied with offering the service that way,” Bassey told TechCabal.

Bamboo also partnered with charitable organisations like the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) and Chess2Slums, allowing users to make direct contributions via the Coins by Bamboo app.

After its expansion into Ghana in 2022, the company added Nigerian stocks to its platform in May 2024.  In June 2024, Bamboo commenced operations in South Africa, enabling users to invest in U.S. stocks directly from their smartphones. This expansion follows the acquisition of a financial services provider licence from the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA).