Payleven, the European Square, Secures Additional Funding

Payleven, a European equivalent to Square started by Rocket Internet that offers a card reader that attaches to smartphones and tablets, says it has secured an investment round led by an undisclosed new investor worth millions in “high single digit” U.S. dollars. The company plans to use the funds to expand in Europe and South America. The new investor joins earlier investors New Enterprise Associates, Holtzbrinck Ventures, ru-Net andRocket Internet.

From an interview Payleven co-founder Ian March did with Betakit:

Although iZettle and other mPOS solutions like mPowa did find a way around Visa’s regulations, offering a Web-based solution requiring several steps for customers to go through, payleven has been working closely with Visa to ensure it meets the right standards to launch a new solution to streamline the process.

The investment should help Payleven grow, but the European market is getting saturated with companies offering similar services and devices, including SumUp, which in August received $20 million in its own investment round. As such, each is expanding into new markets, which is a sound strategy necessary to create a viable merchant base.

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