As it gears up for launch, mobile payments start-up Clinkle has hired former Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy as its chief operating officer.
McCarthy spent 12 years at online media streaming outfit Netflix before leaving in 2010. Since then he has been investing in Internet start-ups and serving on various boards.
Clinkle drew headlines in June when it secured an impressive $25 million in seed funding from an illustrious group of VCs and private investors, including Accel Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Intel Capital, Intuit, former PayPal chief Peter Thiel, and former vice chairman of Wells Fargo Bob Joss. Richard Branson has also since taken a punt on the firm.
Despite the hype, the San Francisco-based outfit - founded by 22 year old Lucas Duplan - has been reluctant to release details of how its payments technology will work when it launches next year.
It will though initially be made available to college students, with Stanford University, University of Michigan, Duke University, Southern Methodist University, and University of Alabama upfront in student sign-ups to its wait list.
Says McCarthy: "Clinkle is one of those rare Netflix-like opportunities, only bigger. Lucas has a grand vision for broad-scale disruption of a huge consumer market enabled by growth in mobile devices and brilliant software innovation. That's why Clinkle has been funded by some of the smartest money in Silicon Valley and why I signed on to be Lucas' partner."