California-based mobile payments start-up Obopay has raised $29 million in a third round of funding that included Citi and Société Générale as new investors.
Obopay says the ournd we led by Richmond Global Cellular, an affiliate fund of New York-based Richmond Management.
New investors that participated in the round included AllianceBernstein, Citi and French banking group Société Générale. All current investors, including Qualcomm and Redpoint Ventures, participated.
Commenting on the funding, Carol Realini, CEO of Obopay, says: "The wide-ranging contacts and collective experience of our new investors will bring significant value to Obopay as we strive to expand our business in our home base of the US."
Peter Kellner of Richmond Global Cellular, adds: "Richmond led this financing because we believe the time is now for mobile payments. Mobile consumers are using their phone for so much more than communication and the ability to use the convenience and power of mobile payments is a necessary and market-driven development."
Obopay launched its mobile payments service in the US last year. The service comes with a pre-paid MasterCard, which can be used at ATMs and retail outlets. Subscribers can check their account balances, collect money owed from other mobile users, view transaction histories and invite friends to use the service.
The company has signed mobile operators Verizon, Cellular South, Helio and Earthlink to the service so far.
Furthermore, in February the firm teamed with Citibank to launch a pilot person-to-person mobile payment service for credit and debit card customers.