Teleccom Lead America: ViVOtech, a near field communication
(NFC) software and systems company, announced the first closing of its Series D
round of funding. The company said that this internal round will bring
ViVOtech’s total funding to $96 million.
“Companies across the mCommerce ecosystem are racing
to capture their share of what is expected to be a massive opportunity. This is
driving strong demand for our software and systems. With this latest financing,
we’re armed to extend our leadership position providing the infrastructure
needed to deliver on the promise of mCommerce,” said Michael Mick Mullagh,
executive chairman of ViVOtech.
The company said that after many years of seeding the NFC
reader market, it is now gaining strong commercial traction with its Trusted
Service Management (TSM), Touch, Marketing and Loyalty software offerings for
NFC- and QR code-based mCommerce initiatives.
ViVOtech provides critical infrastructure to retailers
and all major players in the mobile commerce ecosystem. Its software and
Point-of-Sale (POS) technologies are used by major financial services firms,
leading mobile carriers, smartphone OEM’s and online players such as the Google
Wallet, and is integrated with Isis mCommerce solutions.
ViVOtech has shipped nearly one million NFC payment
readers to 328 customers in the United States and 181 customers
internationally, accounting for well over half of all installed NFC readers
globally.
According to Forrester Research, mobile commerce is
expected to reach $31 billion by 2016, driven by the rollout of NFC and other
mobile payment technologies.
Google Wallet, Isis, PayPal, and major financial services
firms including Visa, MasterCard, and Citi, all have significant mobile
commerce initiatives underway that will drive consumer adoption.
Recently, Isis,
a joint venture by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless,
announced that ViVOtech, VeriFone, Ingenico, and Equinox Payments will
integrate the Isis mobile commerce application.
