Square Inc. continues to secure investors, and the latest one is bringing a lance to the table.
San Francisco-based Square on Nov. 8 announced Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has made an undisclosed investment in the mobile-payments company.
Branson's investment comes on the heels of a recent $100 million funding round from Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm giant Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, reportedly bringing the company's valuation to more than $1 billion.
"I'm very passionate about helping people start and grow successful businesses, and Square is an incredible technology that inspires and empowers everyone to be an entrepreneur," Branson said in a press release.
Square targets small-business owners, providing them a free device that turns compatible mobile devices into payment card readers. Users pay Square a 2.75% fee for each card-present transaction and a 3.5% fee plus 15 cents for card-not-present transactions.
Square has shipped some 800,000 payment card readers and is processing more than $2 billion in transactions annually, the company says in a press release. It plans to launch the product overseas in 2012.
Square is making it easy for consumers to purchase its device through retail deals with Apple Inc., Best Buy Co., RadioShack Corp., Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The company also recently announced its Card Case smartphone application, which enables consumers to pay simply by saying their names at the point of sale.
