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| [December 10, 2012] |
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CARDFREE Closes Series A Funding, Launches Integrated Mobile Merchant Platform
SAN FRANCISCO --(Business Wire)--
Today, CARDFREE,
announced the launch of its company and introduced the first fully
integrated mobile merchant platform, enabling companies to drive
incremental visits, larger ticket size, tender preference and more
meaningful consumer engagement under their branded experience. Last
month the company closed $10 million in Series A Funding.
The CARDFREE platform combines a full range of merchant solutions,
including personalized offers and promotions, mobile payments, loyalty,
order-ahead and social media engagement, all of which comes with robust
reporting. With the ability to leverage existing integrations into most
major POS systems and deep data analytics, CARDFREE gives merchants
unparalleled visibility into their customer base.
CARDFREE, headquartered in San Francisco, is part of a portfolio of
companies advised by investor and chairman of the board Jeffrey Katz,
who founded Mercury Payments Systems, a leading payments processor. The
company's executive team is comprised of industry innovators from
companies such as Starbucks, mFoundry, CorFire and InComm (News - Alert). Members
include Jon Squire, CEO; Dustin Young, president; Chuck Davidson, head
of Product; Diane Hong, head of Marketing; and Sen Wen, head of
Architecture.
Squire, formerly CMO at CorFire, led Dunkin' Donuts Mobile efforts, and
was also SVP of Payments a mFoundry (News - Alert), spearheading Starbucks Card
Mobile. Young, with more than seven years at InComm, the global leader
in prepaid, introduced disruptive prepaid services across national
retail brands. Davidson, category manager, Innovation at Starbucks,
conceived, led and launched Starbucks Card Mobile. Hong previously
worked at mFoundry as SVP of Marketing, as well as VISA and large
advertising agencies working on retail accounts. Wen was Principal
Architect and Engineer at Starbucks working on starbucks.com, Starbucks
Rewards, Social Gifting and numerous mobile programs including Starbucks
Mobile and Square.
Squire commented, "We have reunited the individuals that created the
gold standard in mobile commerce deployments. Our goal is to lead
merchants to new levels and ensure they remain at the center of their
customer relationships, rather than being secondary in third party
mobile apps or wallets. We have a fundamental belief that the merchant
is the most important piece of the omni-channel ecosystem, and CARDFREE
built its platform around that belief. Our team comes from large
merchants, vendors who service them and payments enablers; together, we
will look to further disrupt the status quo of mobile."
Katz explained, "The CARDFREE team's vision for the company, creating a
merchant-centric mobile solution, aligns with my view of where the
market is headed. There is a gap in the market for seamless merchant
solutions that integrate mobile, online and POS, and merchants are going
to be a big driver of mobile commerce in the near future. This talented
team is uniquely positioned with the knowledge, experience and
connections to continue to lead innovation in the space."
About CARDFREE
From the team that deployed the two largest mobile commerce initiatives
in the U.S., CARDFREE offers merchants a one-stop solution to mobilize
and enhance the customer experience for maximum ROI. Sharing a track
record of bringing innovative solutions to market, our team has a unique
360-degree perspective coming from large merchants, mobile, financial
services and payments.
CARDFREE offers complete, integrated solutions for merchants from mobile
and online through POS. With the ability to leverage existing
integrations into most major POS systems and deep data analytics, our
end-to end capabilities give merchants unparalleled visibility into
their customer base. The company acts as a white-label partner working
behind merchant brands, providing tools that drive incremental visits,
larger ticket size, tender preference and more meaningful engagement
with consumers.
CARDFREE is headquartered in San Francisco, with portfolio companies in
Boston, Denver and Atlanta. For more information, visit www.cardfree.com
or contact press@cardfree.com.
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