Mama Money Co-founder Mathieu Coquillon on building the worlds first social business for remittance

Mathieu Coquillon is the Co-founder of Mama Money, the worlds first social business for remittance, enabling low-cost cashless money transfers internationally.   

Mathieu cut his teeth in the corporate world before taking a sabbatical to travel the world. While on a mission to hitchhike to Cairo, he met his fellow Co-founder, Raphael Grojnowski who offered him a lift in his yellow bus.

A year later, Mathieu and Raphael met again and developed the idea for a socially conscious money transfer business, and Mama Money was born.   

Launched in 2013, the company was built on the foundation of providing affordable and accessible money transfer services to migrant workers in South Africa, helping those paying as much as 20% to get their money across the border to pay as little as 3%.   

Under Mathieu’s leadership, Mama Money has expanded its services to over 50 countries, leveraging mobile money technology to facilitate triple digit growth year on year.   At the core of the founder’s vision is Mama Money’s conscious business practices, being led by social impact and not financial targets.

For this reason, Mathieu has received numerous accolades for his role in driving financial inclusion and empowering migrants through accessible financial services.   

Today Mama Money has grown to over 200 employees and expanded its ecosystem to include card services, WhatsApp payments, and most recently its banking offering.   

With remittances sent to, and within, Africa totaling 95 billion dollars in 2023, and a market of over 200 million people, Mama Money is geared for significant growth in the coming years.   

“Innovation is not just about technology; it’s about finding new ways to solve old problems”