Paypal is widely considered as the ruler of online money transfers and payments. However, another company is looking to give this giant some stiff competition. This emerging challenger is known by the clever name of Braintree and has tremendous potential because of its simple method of payments for mobile and online retailers. We are far from the only ones who think so, as the start-up completed a second round of funding that brought the firm $35 million in total. To date, Braintree has raised $70 million to fuel international expansion and talent acquisition.
Braintree possesses a proficient system that is attracting a growing number of consumers each day. Moreover, it is because of this well organised system that Braintree has been able to lure investors like Greycroft, RRE Ventures and Accel Partners along with a valuable partners like New Enterprise Associates (NEA) in the past.
San Francisco based venture Stripe is also looking to prove that they have created a more efficient system to accept payments for both consumers and retailers than currently exists. Stripe has ensured that Braintree is not the only company that is after the market that is currently dominated by Paypal. Additionally, the new firm believe that they also are far more streamlined as compared to the 14 year old service.
Braintree’s model seems to be solid though and through as the platform handles over $5 billion in annual payments for over 3,000 online merchants and mobile start-ups that include the likes of Airbnb, HotelTonight, Uber and Fab. In exchange for their services, Braintree charges 2.9 percent along with 30 cents for each transaction. In addition to this, their network is quite expansive as Braintree is working in more than 30 different countries and accepts over 130 currencies.
On top of that, Braintree is planning to utilise capital to expand their global network and develop new modes of payment. It is because of this reason, Braintree has acquired start-up Venmo in order to introduce capabilities like person to person payment and digital wallet to better match up against Paypal.
Due to these fine attributes, Braintree has been able to seize $35 million in their second round. NEA’s general partner Ravi Viswanathan also showed confidence in the technology of this company and their investment truly reflects it. Viswanathan said that, “We believe Braintree has the strengths to challenge all the incumbents in the payment space, including Paypal.”
Source: Allthingsd