Remittance fintech Remitly has announced it has raised $85 million in equity at a $1.5 billion valuation, an up round compared to its Series E last year; the round was led by PayU with participation from DN Capital, Generation Investment Management, Owl Rock Capital, Princeville, Stripes, Threshold Ventures, and Top Tier; Remitly’s customer growth has increased by 200% compared to a year ago with 300 million customers served across 17 send-from markets and 57 send-to countries; Remitly’s founder and CEO, Matt Oppenheimer, said, “We aren’t seeing that downturn in remittances. Over half of global remittances these days are sent via physical cash locations, and during a pandemic, many don’t feel as safe doing that, and so that will impact numbers.” TechCrunch.