Payfone, a New York-based m-payments firm aimed at the growing virtual goods and mobile app market, has raised $11 million in a series b funding round.
Opus Capital and BlackBerry Partners Fund join founding series a investor RRE Ventures in the round. Bob Borchers of Opus Capital and Kevin Talbot of BlackBerry Partners Fund will also join Payfone's board.
Payfone uses existing inter-operator networks for its global payments system for online merchants and mobile application stores. The firm claims its Merchant Hub includes over 300,000 merchants as well as the world's leading app stores and content brands.
To make payments, customers only need a phone number with purchases billed directly to their pre-paid or post-paid mobile account, with real-time fraud prevention and detailed billing records.
Rodger Desai, CEO, Payfone, says: "Mobile payments today are plagued by fraud and failure. Payfone was built from the ground up with carrier-grade network technologies that enable highly scalable and reliable one-click mobile billing, and new, never before used factors of authentication."
Borchers adds: "Rodger and the Payfone team have created a revolutionary platform for mobile payments that can immediately tap into the billions of dollars being spent on digital and virtual goods today."