Lemon raises $8 million; launches 'smarter wallet'

Source: Lemon.com

Mobile money management app provider Lemon™, today announced it has secured $8 million in Series A capital investment to fuel the launch and future expansion of its new Smarter Wallet, a new twist on the traditional wallet concept.

The round was led by Maveron, the consumer-tech-focused firm co-founded by Starbucks' Howard Schultz with notable investments in Shutterfly, eBay and Zulily. Other investors included Lightspeed Venture Partners, CampVentures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, The Social+Capital Partnership, the fund launched by former Facebook Vice President Chamath Palihapitiya with previous investments in Yammer and SecondMarket, and other leading Silicon Valley-based entrepreneurs and angel investors.

Backed by the capital infusion, Lemon's new Smarter Wallet platform provides a groundbreaking, yet incredibly easy-to-use tool for digitizing and storing all of the items traditionally carried in a physical wallet. In fact, with the data stored behind by Lemon's government-caliber, 32-bit encrypted system, the Smarter Wallet is ultimately more secure than the physical wallet itself.

To get started, users simply get their wallet and use any smartphone to snap a photo of each item—including debit, credit, loyalty and healthcare cards, ID cards, as well as receipts, tickets and coupons. Once saved to their secure Lemon account, the data is accessible from anywhere using a unique four-digit PIN, which secures the data against hackers and thieves, if the mobile device is ever lost or stolen.

This Smarter Wallet instantly becomes a powerful tool to quickly recover and protect your financial security in the event your physical wallet or individual cards are ever lost or stolen. It also provides a convenient way to access credit card information when shopping online while your wallet is in another room, eliminating the need to get up and go find it—just log in to Lemon and copy and paste the card data into the checkout.

"This initial funding and the launch of the Smarter Wallet are major milestones in furthering our vision for Lemon as a trusted mobile money management solution," said Lemon Founder and CEO Wences Casares. "This powerful new wallet framework, combined with our transaction management tools, empower users to take total control over their finances with a fresh new perspective."

The Smarter Wallet integrates with Lemon's cloud-based, digital receipt storage and organization tools for individuals, families and businesses to organize, track and manage their finances - while helping them save money. The complete solution functions as a mobile money manager, enabling users to see how much money they have and where they're spending it to help them stretch dollars further. Users can use their mobile phone to tap digital credit or debit cards in their Smarter Wallet for an immediate view of balances. They can also opt to receive exclusive, money-saving offers from leading retailers.

"Lemon's unique approach to mobile financial management adds an intelligent layer to all the cards and other miscellaneous stuff that takes up space in your wallet or purse," said Maveron partner Amy Errett, who has joined the Lemon board of directors. "Many people remain skeptical about the direct shift to payment-based digital wallet technologies for security reasons. But with the Smarter Wallet, Lemon is laying a strong and secure foundation for a more gradual transition that promises to change the way people think about the digital wallet concept."

Lemon, which launched in late 2011, has quickly built an enthusiastic user base with over one million downloads of its free app for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone devices. The Smarter Wallet is now included in both the basic Lemon Free service and the premium Lemon Pro service for just $9.99 per month. Both offer scanning and storage of credit, debit and loyalty cards and basic receipts, as well as anti-theft protection and valuable merchant offers.

Lemon Pro offers a premium receipt tool with line-item details, budgeting and the capability to export data to popular financial management applications, among other advanced features.

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