Square获GIC领投1.5亿美元，估值60亿，押注独立商户而非Apple Pay

做的是什么生意

Square sells card readers and payment processing to small and medium businesses at 2.75% per transaction, and around that core has built Square Capital cash advances, Caviar food delivery for restaurants and a monthly-fee appointment-booking service.

启动资金：A $150m venture round at a $6b valuation, led by GIC, closed in early October 2014; a September 12 filing had disclosed plans to raise at least $100m at the same valuation.

起因

Square spent its first six years giving free card readers to small and medium businesses and taking 2.75% of each transaction; the small square dongle became especially popular with merchants that had conducted mostly all-cash operations. In May 2014 it introduced Square Capital, a cash-advance program for small businesses, had acquired and continued to run Caviar, a food-delivery service for restaurants that do not otherwise offer it, and offered an appointment-booking service for a monthly fee.

经过

In the months before the round the payments industry convulsed: Apple introduced Apple Pay along with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, eBay said it would spin off PayPal, and Amazon introduced its own card reader with lower processing fees. A September filing disclosed Square planned to raise at least $100m at a $6b valuation. In early October Square closed a $150m round at that valuation, led by new investor GIC with earlier investors Goldman Sachs and Rizvi Traverse also participating; a Square spokesman confirmed only that a round had closed, saying the company stands for independent businesses and will continue to invest aggressively in tools that help them grow.

结果

As of the October 5 report the round had closed and Square was still running Square Capital, Caviar and appointment booking; it planned a new EMV-chip-compatible card reader and said it would accept Apple Pay, betting its tools and transaction volume could grow as mobile payments took off.

可借鉴之处

当资金更充裕的巨头进入你的市场时，创业公司仍可专注于它们忽略的细分市场（如独立商户），并凭借大规模私募融资作为燃料，通过更深入的布局取胜。