Zopa raised Series B funding of $15 million to launch their service in California. PaymentNews covers the story here - Payments News: P2P Lender Zopa Raises $15 Million In Funding For California Launch - March 27, 2006
This raises the prospect of an engaging competition between two companies funded by Benchmark capital in the US market. There must be a sizable market to go around for this service, but more likely, only one will survive.
Marketplaces are funny business. It is very hard to unseat an entrenched incumbent. But, neither Propser nor Zopa have quite the scale to be labeled an incumbent. If both these companies were completely independent, we may have seen a bruising war between the two companies to attract users. But since Benchmark invests in both, it will be interesting to see if Prosper and Zopa tip-toe around each other and build separate niche markets. Or, will Benchmark be better served by letting the two have a go at each other. In either case, Benchmark stands to gain.
May the market choose the best market!
Mar 27, 2006
Mar 23, 2006
ATM fraud and other big things in the payments universe
Aneace's Blog: ATM fraud and other big things in the payments universe
Aneace gives a great summary of the costs of ATM fraud. Very relevant to the current storm - "the worst hack ever" - sweeping the payments industry.
Aneace gives a great summary of the costs of ATM fraud. Very relevant to the current storm - "the worst hack ever" - sweeping the payments industry.
PayPal to offer paying by text message
Send $$$: PayPal to offer paying by text message
"...marks a big step in bridging the worlds of e-commerce and the physical world of brick-and-mortar stores by giving consumers a pay-as-you-go option via phones."
This has been a long time coming. The marketplace is bustling with mobile payments startups
- Obopay (still in stealth mode) raised a $10M funding recently.
- Mobilelime raised $4M last year.
- TextPayMe
- Way Systems
The 1000-pound gorilla of internet payments enters the mobile market. Does this mean the m-commerce hype of the '90s is finally coming to fruition?
"...marks a big step in bridging the worlds of e-commerce and the physical world of brick-and-mortar stores by giving consumers a pay-as-you-go option via phones."
This has been a long time coming. The marketplace is bustling with mobile payments startups
- Obopay (still in stealth mode) raised a $10M funding recently.
- Mobilelime raised $4M last year.
- TextPayMe
- Way Systems
The 1000-pound gorilla of internet payments enters the mobile market. Does this mean the m-commerce hype of the '90s is finally coming to fruition?
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