Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and venture capitalist, Greycroft, have purchased shares of international mobile payment provider, Fortumo, a fast growing company with offices in Estonia, San Francisco and Beijing.
“We have been impressed with Fortumo’s strong product focus and ability to execute,” said Dana Settle, a Partner with Greycroft, in a statement. “What sets Fortumo apart from their competition is their focus on geographies where mobile payments will have the biggest impact and growth over the next few years
Fortumo is rising against competitiors like Bango, Boku and PayPal’s Zong, with its new growth round to solidify its market position.
The combined purchase of a stake in the company will effectively relieve Estonian mobile solutions company, Mobi Solutions, from its role as majority owner of the business.
“The deal does not change much in terms of Fortumo’s strategy or day-to-day operations. However, it will help us better pursue more growth opportunities in the $200 billion mobile payments market, including additional business lines, strategic partnerships and acquisitions,” said the company on their website.
In addition to the two new carrier partners, Fortumo boasts an integration with 300 carrier accorss the globe.
Fortumo has also recently added Electronic Arts, Gameloft, Vostu and Cut the Rope game-maker, Zeptolab, to its list of blue chip merchants, which already includes Angry Birds maker Rovio, Badoo and others.
“The opportunity in the mobile payments segment is enormous, and we believe that Fortumo is well positioned to capitalize on the trend of operator based billing. The Fortumo team is a great example for the strong talent in the Central and Eastern European region able to build innovative and globally successful solutions.” said Marcin Hejka, Managing Director of Intel Capital EMEA.
A source close to the matter spoke about the size of investment being similar to the $10.2 M Bango investment, which was disclosed a couple of weeks ago.
