By Riley Kaminer
If you’ve the (dis)pleasure of waiting in line outside a Miami DMV office, you more than likely have seen a smattering of representatives from MAJORITY telling people about the company’s digital banking services for migrants.
In 2021, the Swedish startup landed in Miami to expand their presence stateside. Besides co-founder and CEO Magnus Larsson’s connection to the Magic City (he studied at the University of Miami), Larsson told Refresh Miami that Miami made sense from a demographic perspective: “We’re quite excited to have our US headquarters here in Miami, the place with the highest number of foreign born people.”
This week, MAJORITY announced that it has raised $9.75 million to further fuel its expansion plans. This is the company’s fourth fundraise in two years, including a $37.5 million Series B last September led by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures alongside Heartcore Capital.
MAJORITY reports that it will deploy these funds to continue building existing products and increase its headcount. MAJORITY’s app is available in 50 states and has a few hundred local advisors in Florida and Texas. While MAJORITY’s commercial team continues to grow stateside, the company still has around 45 team members in Sweden.
For $5.99 a month, users get access to MAJORITY’s various services, which include bank accounts, debits cards, international money transfers, and discounted international callings. Users are able to register without a social security number – an international ID and proof of US residence will suffice.
“We started off in Texas and Florida,” Larsson commented. “Florida has been our main focus for a period of time now, however, our business is about trust, and there is an opportunity to be the first banking product that you can open when you enter the country. As an immigrant myself, I experienced how hard it can be to seek out the services and support you need.”
“Countries are just built for people living in those countries so working with immigrant communities around the world, we decided we wanted to build a membership product which took away predatory fees,” Larsson said in an interview with Insider. “Many essential systems are not in place for immigrants and while we charge a monthly fee, most users save money from our service.”
Larsson acknowledged that raising funds again was not necessarily the plan, but it made sense given current market conditions.
“We looked at the market and had the option to do it now while we have good momentum,” he said. “You don’t want to spend all your time fundraising and having this investor confidence is a luxury that allows us to create a good runway, while others are struggling.”
READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:
- Swedish founders target Miami to grow immigrant-focused banking startup MAJORITY
- MAJORITY expands Florida footprint, with $37.5M Series B in tow
- Ironforge nabs $2.6M to build platform to make Solana development easier than ever
- Onyx Private banks $4.1M to become the ‘next-generation UBS’
- Taxfyle takes aim at tedious tax prep, sees exponential growth post Series B
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