Square raises $27.5 million in round that values it at $240 million
Not sure you can ring this transaction up on Square's mobile payment service. All those zeroes might fry the circuitry.
The company led by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey closed a $27.5 million round of funding that gives the San Francisco company an eye-popping valuation of about $240 million.
The funding round was led by Sequoia Capital, and also includes strategic and individual investors.
Square was valued at about $45 million in a prior round of funding. Previous investors include Khosla Ventures which also participated in this round.
Sequoia Capital venture capitalist Roelof Botha, a former PayPal chief financial officer and one of the investors in YouTube, will join Square's board.
This is a major statement for Square which only opened to the public three months ago. The company says its software which allows businesses and individuals to turn their smart phones into credit card payment systems is catching on.
The high valuation is the latest given to a Silicon Valley start-up, raising concerns about a potential funding bubble.
Palo Alto social networking phenom Facebook grabbed the highest valuation of all recently. In an investment round led by Goldman Sachs, it is said to be worth $50 billion. Last month Twitter raised $200 million in a deal that valued the San Francisco company at $3.7 billion.
Related:
Facebook's cash infushion whets appetite of investors
Twitter raises $200 million more from investors
-- Jessica Guynn
