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lemfi.comLaunched in 2021, Ridwan Olalere founded LemFi to transform how immigrant communities access financial services, enabling people to send money to their families across the globe. The company has over 1M customers and recently crossed $1B in monthly transaction volume. A new member of the Highland portfolio, here’s Ridwan’s perspective on how this journey has shaped him, LemFi and his ambitions:
How has your perspective as a founder or CEO changed from early stage to growth stage?
The early stages were largely about survival – launching products quickly, fixing issues on the fly and figuring out product-market fit. Speaking directly to customers often was invaluable in shaping the product LemFi is today.
As we’ve scaled, the focus is on people, processes and planning. Having senior managers who can make decisions independently, and creating processes that allow for fast and efficient growth has been critical. You may think fewer processes enable speed, but as the company grows, the lack of structure can cause chaos. Now, my perspective is set on building systems that strengthen our foundations and support future growth.
Which early investment paid off the most when scaling?
Listening to our customers remains one of our best investments. Early on, Canadian banks were rejecting transactions because of how our African payment processor was identified. We worked with customers to resolve these issues, chatting with them on WhatsApp and incentivising them to talk to their banks.
Those connections helped us learn how our product was being used and where it was providing the most value, driving development and establishing trust. Many of those customers still message me years later, a testament to the relationships we’ve built.
What key strategies have you used to achieve sustainable growth?
Investing heavily in data, using tools like Tableau and capturing the right data to analyse trends and make decisions. Having the infrastructure and teams to uncover this data is key to refining our product and unlocking growth.
Boldness has proved equally important. We thought LemFi would focus on African remittances, but we later asked: “Why not expand to Asia?” Being ambitious and believing we could solve problems in new markets has been a driving force for growth.
How did you maintain or adapt your company culture during rapid growth?
LemFi is built around two values: grit and rejecting mediocrity. Grit shapes how we approach challenges and drives the resilience that’s key to success in the fast-moving fintech space. Rejecting mediocrity pushes us to aim higher and never settle for “good enough.”
We define and reinforce our values from day one, ensuring they’re reflected in how we operate. We encourage connection through hybrid hubs in key countries and offsites which give us the chance to realign values, resolve issues, and plan for the future.