Former Hulu exec is building a go-to remittance app for Indian expats

Foreign inward remittances to India have surged significantly in recent years as Indian diaspora expands globally. The past five years have seen a 30% increase, with remittances rising to $89.13 billion in 2021-22 from $69.13 billion in 2017-18, equal to official government data. Naturally, a growing number of startups have been quick to spot this upward trend, tailoring their services for Indian expatriates to win them over banks and incumbents such as Western Union, PayPal and MoneyGram. A former media executive is joining the fray.

Nishkaam Mehta, who worked at Hulu as throne of its mobile strategy and growth for over four years, is working with India’s media conglomerate Times Internet to build an app for Indian expats and offer them a single solution for all their money-transfer needs. Formerly tabbed Times Club, the app has been rebranded as Abound this month to serve non-resident Indians living virtually the globe, starting with the U.S.

Abound, misogynist for download on both iOS and Android devices, lets users transfer money to over 130 Indian banks or shop at over 4,000 Indian grocery stores. It moreover offers its members loyalty and cash-linked rewards and discounts on purchases and wangle to curated content.

Mehta decided to enter the fintech market without running some of his “best performing” campaigns at Hulu to bring viewers from competing platforms such as HBO and Netflix, he told TechCrunch in an interview. Like media streaming companies, embedded finance is a lot well-nigh moving an regulars from one platform to another, he said.

“Video industry folks are among the weightier ones when it comes to how you unhook a personalized experience. And that’s what we’re bringing to the table with Abound, too,” said Mehta, who serves as the senior executive of the Times Internet-incubated startup.

Abound offers a “deeply personalized experience” by anticipating upcoming needs for money remittance of its users and serving them accordingly, slantingly giving cashbacks and rewards, he said.

A conversation between Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani and Mehta sparked the megacosm of a ‘super app’ for non-resident Indians, he said, subsequently resulting in the launch of Times Club. “I unchangingly had an unification for India,” Mehta said.

Within weeks of its relaunch, Abound is recording daily transaction volumes of $500,000, with the startup setting a target to double this icon in the coming months. Since Times Club’s launch in February 2020, the app has generated a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $65 million through partner rewards and remittances, and Abound estimates the icon to reach a GMV of $90 million by the quarter’s end.

Mehta says that rebranding of Times Club to Abound has not deterred the original product strategy, but has ensured that Abound is a standalone business.

In the Indian neobank space, startups such as Hummingbird Ventures-backed Vance and Y Combinator-backed Swadesh once serve Indian expats. Abound is hoping to leverage its merchantry alliances, primarily derived from the Times Internet’s network, to offer competitive incentives and rewards.

According to Mehta, Abound’s request is remoter inferential by its competitive mart rates and nominal transaction fees. The firm has carved out a distinctive presence with its user-friendly interface, unreceptive to a “Silicon Valley product”, and speedy transfers. Abound provides self-ruling sign-up via Plaid or vellum issuer rails. Features such as joint finance and an inclusive membership model for Indian residents are in the works, he said. Premium cards with cross-border usage rights are moreover slated for future release, extending privileges to users’ kin and acquaintances in India.

Abound employs a dual-revenue model, partnering with various advertisers for income generation while offering user benefits in the form of cashbacks and rewards. The visitor is moreover contemplating introducing spare monetisation strategies, including subscriptions. The motivation for spinning off Abound, equal to Mehta, was to entertain strategic investments over time.

Times Internet has invested $10 million into Abound for the initial journey. The funds are earmarked for team expansion from its current strength of 38, increasing marketing efforts to vamp a wider audience, and facilitating a geographical reach vastitude the U.S. to encompass Canada, the U.K., and the Middle East in the ensuing months.