May 6, 2025
Why QED Invested in Felix Pago
In the remittances world, one truth has long prevailed: it's messy, slow and often unfair to the very people who rely on it the most. Immigrant families—many of whom send money home monthly—deserve a solution that is not only more affordable but also more intuitive and trustworthy.
At QED Investors, we’ve been closely watching the evolution of cross-border payments for years, including early investments into Remitly and Flywire. So when we met the Felix Pago team, we didn’t just see another remittances startup—we saw the potential for a category-defining company. Felix stands at the intersection of several transformative trends: the rise of conversational commerce, the growing relevance of stablecoin rails in global finance and the digitization of financial services for the underserved Latino population in the U.S.
A Simpler Way to Send Money—Built on WhatsApp
Felix has reimagined the remittance experience by building a product where users already are: WhatsApp. In a market where 80–90 percent of Latin Americans use the app daily, this isn’t just a feature—it’s a platform advantage. WhatsApp is now deeply integrated into users’ daily lives, evolving beyond personal chats to an important channel for commerce and services - from food delivery, to scheduling appointments, to receiving banking notifications.
Instead of downloading yet another app, users can send money home as easily as texting a friend. Through conversational AI, Felix delivers a user experience that feels familiar, personal and trustworthy. The company’s AI doesn’t just handle transactions—it holds a conversation, accounting for slang, cultural nuances and even voice messages. This approach lowers intimidation and builds trust; users feel like they are chatting with a helpful teller rather than interacting with a faceless app. That’s a big reason why users are transacting not just once or twice a year (as is common in this market), but multiple times per month.
We believe this model of embedded, conversational finance is a powerful new frontier, especially in emerging markets. As customer acquisition costs rise and attention spans shrink, platforms that integrate directly into users’ communication flows will have a lasting edge.
Not Just Faster—Smarter Infrastructure
On the back end, Felix leverages both traditional payment rails and crypto infrastructure, including stablecoin-based rails via partners like Bitso and Circle. This gives them optionality on cost, speed and settlement—a crucial advantage in a business where margins tend to be thin and customer expectations are high.
The rise of stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement systems is fundamentally changing global money movement. Stablecoin settlement volumes have surpassed Visa volumes globally, and we are beginning to see institutional adoption, signaling that stablecoins are seen as an upgrade to legacy payment infrastructure rather than a crypto experiment. As this infrastructure matures, it allows companies like Felix to offer faster, cheaper and more transparent transactions across borders.
In a world where global finance is becoming programmable, Felix is building the application layer that connects real users with these next-gen rails—without needing them to understand what’s under the hood.
A Massive, Underpenetrated Market
The remittance opportunity in Latin America is incredibly large. U.S. to Mexico corridor alone represents more than $60 billion annually, with Central American corridors like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador adding tens of billions more. Yet more than 50 percent of remittances in the region are still sent through in-person agents or physical cash transfers.
That’s not just an inconvenience—it’s an economic tax on the people who can least afford it. By offering an experience that’s mobile-first, digital-native and built around trust, Felix more than rapidly converting offline senders into digital customers. Last year alone, Felix processed over $1 billion in remittances, and still has minimal market share in the countries it operates in.
Built for Trust, Built to Expand
What excites us even more is where Felix can go next. Today’s remittance transaction is tomorrow’s financial relationship. With a strong sender base, Felix is well-positioned to layer on financial services—from credit products and savings tools to infrastructure that enables receivers to better manage and grow their funds. Their partnerships with leading platforms like Nubank and Mercado Pago showcase their ability to attract customers on both sides of the transaction - senders and receivers alike.
We believe the Felix team, led by co-founders Manuel Godoy and Bernardo García, has the product obsession, cultural insight and operational muscle to go the distance. In a space that is notoriously difficult to break into, they’ve built an experience that users genuinely love.
We’re proud to back Felix as they transform how money moves across borders. The future of remittances isn’t just faster or cheaper—it’s more human. And that’s exactly what Felix is building.
In the remittances world, one truth has long prevailed: it's messy, slow and often unfair to the very people who rely on it the most. Immigrant families—many of whom send money home monthly—deserve a solution that is not only more affordable but also more intuitive and trustworthy.
At QED Investors, we’ve been closely watching the evolution of cross-border payments for years, including early investments into Remitly and Flywire. So when we met the Felix Pago team, we didn’t just see another remittances startup—we saw the potential for a category-defining company. Felix stands at the intersection of several transformative trends: the rise of conversational commerce, the growing relevance of stablecoin rails in global finance and the digitization of financial services for the underserved Latino population in the U.S.
A Simpler Way to Send Money—Built on WhatsApp
Felix has reimagined the remittance experience by building a product where users already are: WhatsApp. In a market where 80–90 percent of Latin Americans use the app daily, this isn’t just a feature—it’s a platform advantage. WhatsApp is now deeply integrated into users’ daily lives, evolving beyond personal chats to an important channel for commerce and services - from food delivery, to scheduling appointments, to receiving banking notifications.
Instead of downloading yet another app, users can send money home as easily as texting a friend. Through conversational AI, Felix delivers a user experience that feels familiar, personal and trustworthy. The company’s AI doesn’t just handle transactions—it holds a conversation, accounting for slang, cultural nuances and even voice messages. This approach lowers intimidation and builds trust; users feel like they are chatting with a helpful teller rather than interacting with a faceless app. That’s a big reason why users are transacting not just once or twice a year (as is common in this market), but multiple times per month.
We believe this model of embedded, conversational finance is a powerful new frontier, especially in emerging markets. As customer acquisition costs rise and attention spans shrink, platforms that integrate directly into users’ communication flows will have a lasting edge.
Not Just Faster—Smarter Infrastructure
On the back end, Felix leverages both traditional payment rails and crypto infrastructure, including stablecoin-based rails via partners like Bitso and Circle. This gives them optionality on cost, speed and settlement—a crucial advantage in a business where margins tend to be thin and customer expectations are high.
The rise of stablecoins and blockchain-based settlement systems is fundamentally changing global money movement. Stablecoin settlement volumes have surpassed Visa volumes globally, and we are beginning to see institutional adoption, signaling that stablecoins are seen as an upgrade to legacy payment infrastructure rather than a crypto experiment. As this infrastructure matures, it allows companies like Felix to offer faster, cheaper and more transparent transactions across borders.
In a world where global finance is becoming programmable, Felix is building the application layer that connects real users with these next-gen rails—without needing them to understand what’s under the hood.
A Massive, Underpenetrated Market
The remittance opportunity in Latin America is incredibly large. U.S. to Mexico corridor alone represents more than $60 billion annually, with Central American corridors like Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador adding tens of billions more. Yet more than 50 percent of remittances in the region are still sent through in-person agents or physical cash transfers.
That’s not just an inconvenience—it’s an economic tax on the people who can least afford it. By offering an experience that’s mobile-first, digital-native and built around trust, Felix more than rapidly converting offline senders into digital customers. Last year alone, Felix processed over $1 billion in remittances, and still has minimal market share in the countries it operates in.
Built for Trust, Built to Expand
What excites us even more is where Felix can go next. Today’s remittance transaction is tomorrow’s financial relationship. With a strong sender base, Felix is well-positioned to layer on financial services—from credit products and savings tools to infrastructure that enables receivers to better manage and grow their funds. Their partnerships with leading platforms like Nubank and Mercado Pago showcase their ability to attract customers on both sides of the transaction - senders and receivers alike.
We believe the Felix team, led by co-founders Manuel Godoy and Bernardo García, has the product obsession, cultural insight and operational muscle to go the distance. In a space that is notoriously difficult to break into, they’ve built an experience that users genuinely love.
We’re proud to back Felix as they transform how money moves across borders. The future of remittances isn’t just faster or cheaper—it’s more human. And that’s exactly what Felix is building.