Richard Branson backs Square mobile payment startup

Richard Branson

Richard Branson
Mobile payment startup, Square, which is recognized for its board of directors that features big names such as Lawrence Summers, the former U.S. Treasury Secretary, now has another notable supporting its cause: Virgin’s Richard Branson, the U.K. billionaire.

According to a spokesperson from Square, Branson has added his support by making what is being called a “multimillion” dollar investment into the company. The actual amount of this investment has yet to be disclosed.

This is not an entirely new experience for Square, is it had previously received an investment of $100 million, which occurred in June and was led by Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers, a venture capital firm, as well as an April investment from the Visa credit card company for an undisclosed amount.

The technology offered by Square provides companies with the ability to accept payments for purchases of products and services by way of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

According to Katie Baynes, a spokesperson for the company, Square recorded a daily transaction of $10 million for the first time on the weekend of November 5. This is a significant increase from the summer daily average of $4 million. This year, Square is set to process transactions that will total $2 billion.

The company was started two years ago by Jack Dorsey, a co-founder of Twitter. It must now ready itself to compete with companies with much deeper pockets who are all vying for as much of the mobile payment marketplace share as they can grab.

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