TANGGapp raises $2.5m to make remittance easier for Filipinos overseas

The TANGGapp team / Photo credit: TANGGapp

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are considered “modern-day heroes” of the country, enduring life away from the family they are striving hard to support. There were almost 2 million such heroes in 2021, according to a report published in December last year by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

One startup looking to help these OFWs is TANGGapp, which stands for Tap and Go Global App. The name also comes from tanggap, the Filipino word for “receive.”

The app was launched in 2021 by Rebecca Kersch, a Filipino of Dutch and American descent. She looked to make it cheaper for her aunt – an OFW – to wire money back home.

The company recently raised US$2.5 million in seed funding from various investors including Goodwater Capital, Foxmont Capital Partners, and Manila Angel Investors Network.

Funding details

• Funding amount: US$2,500,000
• Lead investors: Ten13, Goodwater Capital, North Fifth Asia, Foxmont Capital Partners
• Other investor: Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN)
• Stage: Seed
• Source

TANGGapp lets users transfer money from the US to the Philippines quickly and with a low minimum amount. Users in the Philippines can also link their local banks and e-wallets on the app.

“Sending money should be as easy as texting, regardless of where you live or what you earn,” said Kersch, who also serves as CEO of the company.

The startup has been making strides in simplifying remittance, with its mobile remittance product growing 25x in the past two years. TANGGapp also has a repeat usage rate of 48% and hundreds of millions of Philippine pesos sent through its app.

The company’s ambition doesn’t stop with OFWs, however. It plans to offer its services to people who want to send money from the Philippines to the US, and add more support for more countries.

The company also said it has product releases and new partnerships in the pipeline right now.

More details