mPayment startup oneTXT raises $2m
mPayment startup oneTXT raises $2m
Newly founded oneTXT, which provides an integrated mobile payment platform service which, in their own words, “has the potential to transform the way social media thinks of transactions solutions”, today announced that they have raised a $2 million first round of funding.
oneTXT, adding one more player into the mobile commerce/mPayment scene, focuses on social media and social media related transactions, processed on the mobile phone. Their philosophy is built around not owning the information, nor the relationship of and with the customer, but merely adding technology value. However, their exact business model and technology is not yet completely clear (their website contains no product or service information).
oneTXT is founded by Roger Wood, among others, and announced that along with the capital investment, former Jamba CEO Lucy Hood joined the team as director of the board. That sure gives them a strong pointman (sorry, woman) to spearhead the rollout of their product.
With another player in the mpayments game, we now have a niche industry with a lot of great visions, hype and good intentions, but we have still to see someone breaking the ice and hitting critical mass on mobile payments. This has potential to be a huge market (Paypal x times over, if you believe the analysts), but the big deal here seems more to be the content providers (news media, multimedia services, online services and now, also, social media) wanting to charge for their services, rather than continue the free-rolling joyride of the last 10-15 years. It appears that noone is able to take the risk of being first mover in this field, scared of losing valuable users.
It’s going to be hugely exciting to see who will be the first to break the ice and start charging users for content that was previously free.
Metamorphic Ventures, New York City, led the oneTXT financing round, joined by KPG Ventures of San Francisco, and New York Angels Fund. Individual angel investors also participated, including David Hirsch, formerly at Google; Geoffrey Judge, co-founder of 24/7 Real Media (now part of WPP); Roger Ehrenberg, former president and CEO of DB Advisors, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank AG; and Mark Michel, formerly Group Head at TD Capital, TD Bank’s private equity fund focused on the media and communications sectors.
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