Square buys VC-backed payment app Verse

The transaction amounted to around €30-50m, according to press reports.

The company has raised more than $37m in several VC rounds since its launch in 2015. Its investors include US-based VC houses Spark Capital, Greycroft Partners and eVentures, among others. The company is majority owned by its founder and CEO, Bernardo Hernández. 

Verse will join the Cash App division at Square and continue to operate as an independent business, with no immediate changes to its office locations, existing products, customers and business operations.

Cash App is Square's peer-to-peer payment app, which has only been available in the US and the UK so far. By acquiring Verse, the company plans to expand its presence in the European market, while providing Verse with additional support through its Cash App technology.

Square was established in 2009 by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey and American entrepreneur Jim McKelvey, and launched its first app in 2010. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2015 with a valuation of $2.9bn.

Previous funding
Verse raised $1.8m in a seed funding round led by US-based venture capital firm DFJ in September 2015.

An investor consortium consisting of Spark Capital, Greycroft Partners and eVentures led an $8.3m series-A funding round for the business in October 2016.

Subsequently, Spark led a $20.5m series-B round for Verse in May 2017. Existing backers Greycroft and eVentures also took part in the investment. 

Greycroft and Lánzame Capital injected an additional $1.7m into the company in August 2018.

More recently, Greycroft led a $5.3m round for Verse in May 2019. Expon Capital also participated, alongside private investors Nikesh Arora, Alan Patricof, Martin Varsavsky, David Stern and Charlie Songhurst.

Company
Established in 2015 and headquartered in Barcelona with an office in San Francisco, Verse offers a digital payment platform for mobile devices based on blockchain technology.

Its main feature lets customers send and receive money from a mobile app without any fees in just a few seconds, using their phone numbers.

The app also allows users to track expenses, create money pots and organise events with a basic ticketing feature.

Verse has recently launched a Visa debit card in Spain, which lets customers spend money on their Verse account directly, without any foreign exchange fees and with two free ATM withdrawals per month.

The company employs 20 staff and has a presence in 27 countries.

People
Square – Jack Dorsey (co-founder, CEO).
Verse – Bernardo Hernández (co-founder, CEO).

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