Pulse Remit is a mobile-first remittance platform built on Celo for the Build Agents for the Real World hackathon.It enables instant, low-cost cross-border transfers using just a phone number — powered by Celo's stablecoins (cUSD/cEUR), phone-based identity, and ultra-low fees.Agentic twist: Autonomous AI agents handle smart routing, automatic currency conversion, compliance screening, and optimal timing — delivering real-world economic agency for everyday remittances to underserved users in Africa and beyond.Key highlights:Onboard in <60 seconds via mobile number
Near-zero fees on Celo's L2
Volatility-free stable value
Future mobile money fiat off-ramps
Fully agent-driven for seamless, intelligent execution
Pulse Remit turns remittances into an autonomous, inclusive experience — aligning perfectly with Celo's focus on real-world agentic applications.
Pulse Remit’s mission is to democratize remittances for underserved families in Africa and emerging markets by deploying autonomous AI agents on Celo delivering instant, near-free, stable-value transfers with true economic agency.
Traditional remittances drain billions through high fees (8-9%+), delays, volatility, and inaccessibility.
Pulse Remit changes this: users start with just a phone number, and intelligent agents autonomously optimize routing, conversions, compliance, timing, and settlement — leveraging Celo's mobile-first identity, low-cost L2, and stablecoins (cUSD/cEUR) for seamless, inclusive execution.
This builds real-world prosperity: senders save massively, recipients get funds instantly via mobile money or cash, and AI agents handle complexity so people focus on family aligning with Celo's goal of a global financial system where agentic tools create conditions for prosperity for everyone.
The problem that Pulse Remit addresses — and the core pain point your project solves for the Celo "Build Agents for the Real World" hackathon — is the high-cost, slow, inaccessible, and volatile nature of traditional cross-border remittances, especially for families in Africa and emerging markets.
The Real-World Remittance Crisis (Key Pain Points):
Exorbitant fees — Sending $200 to Sub-Saharan Africa averages 8-9% (sometimes 20%+ in certain corridors), far above the global average (~6%) and the UN SDG target of <3% by 2030. Banks and legacy providers (e.g., Western Union) often charge the most, with flat fees hitting small transfers hardest.
Slow settlement times — Traditional transfers take days to weeks, especially to rural or underbanked areas, delaying critical support for food, healthcare, education, or emergencies.
Limited accessibility — Many recipients lack bank accounts (financial inclusion gaps in Africa), rely on cash pickup points that are distant/inconvenient, or face barriers in intra-African corridors (even higher costs, up to 33% in some cases).
Volatility & FX risks — Currency fluctuations erode value for recipients; informal channels (cheaper but risky/illegal) often fill the gap due to distrust in formal systems.
Lack of intelligence & automation — Users manually handle conversions, routing, timing, and compliance — no smart decisions on best paths, lowest fees, or optimal timing.
These issues trap billions in remittances (~$50B+ annually to Sub-Saharan Africa) from reaching full impact, burdening migrant workers and families in underserved communities.How Pulse Remit Solves It (Agentic Innovation):Pulse Remit flips this by building an autonomous, AI-agent-driven remittance experience on Celo:Agents act with economic agency — independently optimizing routes, converting currencies at best rates, screening compliance, timing executions for lowest fees/gas, and settling instantly to stable value (cUSD/cEUR).
Leverages Celo's mobile-first strengths (phone-number onboarding/ID in <60s, near-zero L2 fees, stablecoins, future mobile money off-ramps) to make it inclusive and real-world usable.
This directly tackles the hackathon's call for agents with genuine economic agency that deliver practical utility in payments and inclusion — turning a painful, expensive process into an intelligent, low-friction one that empowers users economically.For your submission, frame the problem like this in the "Problem" or "Overview" section:
"Traditional remittances to Africa cost families 8-9% in fees, take days to arrive, expose users to volatility, and exclude the unbanked — wasting billions in vital support. Pulse Remit deploys autonomous agents on Celo to automate intelligent, near-free, instant transfers, restoring economic agency to everyday people."
Pulse Remit deploys autonomous AI agents on Celo to automate intelligent, end-to-end remittances: from initiation via phone number to optimal execution, conversion, compliance, and instant stable-value delivery. This cuts fees from 8-9% to near-zero, eliminates delays/volatility, and empowers underserved users with true economic agency — making remittances fast, fair, and autonomous in the real world.
Emerging Markets
