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Venture Capital News: Plastiq Secures $10M in Series B

2014-07-16
BOSTON, MA, Payments company that enables consumers to pay with their credit card of choice regardless of merchant acceptance, today announced that it has raised $10 million in Series B financing.
Plastiq, the only payments company that enables consumers to pay with their credit card of choice regardless of merchant acceptance, today announced that it has raised $10 million in Series B financing. Khosla Ventures led the round, with participation from investors from the previous round, Atlas Venture and Flybridge Capital Partners.

The funding brings the company's total capital raised to $20.3 million and will support expansion of the Plastiq payment service across Canada and the US. Plastiq headquarters will also be relocating from Boston to San Francisco.

'At Plastiq, we are laser-focused on bringing payment choice to North American cardholders by enabling them to make payments with their card in instances when they otherwise could not,' said Eliot Buchanan, CEO and co-founder of Plastiq. 'Plastiq has met success in Canada with the launch of payment categories such as tuition, income taxes, utilities and more. This round will support us in expanding our service and market, enabling North Americans to pay any organization or business with their existing card through Plastiq even when cards are not typically accepted.'

Ben Ling, investment partner at Khosla Ventures, stated, 'Plastiq stands out because it requires no merchant integration or involvement; it's consumer-focused, allowing anyone to make a payment regardless of whether the merchant is part of the ecosystem.'

Ling has an extensive track record as a senior executive at Google, YouTube and Facebook, helping these companies scale. Khosla Ventures has invested in other financial services companies including Square, Stripe, Boku and Fundera.

Ling will serve on the Board of Directors for Plastiq, while Keith Rabois, longtime Silicon Valley executive and now investment partner at Khosla, will serve as an advisor to the company. Other Plastiq board members include Jeff Bussgang, general partner at Flybridge Capital Partners; Ryan Moore, partner at Atlas Venture; and Kerry Hatch, a former American Express executive.

'Plastiq is solving a problem we don't always realize we have ' limitations on when we can use our credit or debit card of choice ' because we're so used to being told 'no cards accepted' within certain industries,' said Bussgang. 'Plastiq is changing the payments industry with a shift in how we approach the payments we have to make, instilling us with confidence that we can always access the value of our cards.'

Plastiq headquarters, currently located in Boston, will relocate to the heart of SoMa in San Francisco by Q4 in order to recruit even more top talent and immerse itself in the thriving startup landscape. Career openings can be viewed on the Plastiq Careers page.

Additional Quotes

'Plastiq is all about providing payment choice,' said Moore. 'It's refreshing to be able to pay the way you want and get back to your life, without having to worry about whether a merchant has decided to accept credit cards on their own or not. At the same time, merchants are funded the way they are used to without disruption.'

About Plastiq

Plastiq Inc. is a respected payments solutions company founded to empower cardholders with the choice to use their credit or debit card for any payment even when cards aren't accepted. The company is based in Boston, with an office in Toronto. For more information, visit us at www.plastiq.com or follow us on Twitter @payplastiq.
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