Categories: Tech & Society

Powa – Mobile Payment Startup from UK Plans to Disrupt the Mobile E-commerce Market

 

Powa Technologies, a mobile payments startup in the U.K., raised a huge $76 million first round of funding today. The financial interest may come from the company’s big plans for e-commerce.

Powa makes a credit card processing dongle called mPowa, similar to its competitors Square, PayPal Here, and Intel’s GoPayment. The hardware connects to a smartphone or tablet’s audio jack and processes credit card transactions with competitive fee rates. Powa is also in the middle of launching a “chip and pin” card reader for the U.K., which businesses can sign up for now.

All of this has been subsidized by chief executive Dan Wagner, who poured $20 million into the company before accepting outside money.

The company would not reveal the name of its investors. TechCrunch believes the investor is Wellington Management, according to its anonymous sources. We have not been able to independently confirm this.

Powa is going beyond just mobile payments, where there is an established market of competitors. The company is looking to revolutionize mobile buying in general with PowaTag product. This is a mobile technology that can detect any product that you take a picture of. Once the product has been identified, PowaTag will send you a link to a place where you can purchase that item online.

If the technology works, that can be a very powerful tool for consumers who may see a pair of shoes on a friend or a piece of furniture and want to know where it comes from (and how much it costs).

Via: VentureBeat

 

Team TechPanda

Recent Posts

What happens to your personal data? How AI ensures your digital footprint stays secure?

Each tap, click, and action in the online world adds to our increasingly vast digital…

3 days ago

The AI Editor has arrived: What Human-in-the-Loop publishing & ecommerce really looks like

Artificial Intelligence is no longer just a futuristic concept in publishing and e-commerce. It’s here,…

7 days ago

After the artist & the writer it’s the developer’s turn to rethink careers as AI starts coding

The artist and the writer have been living in fear of AI taking over their…

1 week ago

Geek Appeal: New gadgets & apps on the block

The Tech Panda takes a look at recently launched gadgets & apps in the market.…

1 week ago

With top engineers from India in hot demand globally, Ness Digital Engineering champions internal pathways to leadership  

India’s tech and IT sector continues to grow, expected to top $300 billion in fiscal…

1 week ago