IP Commerce Has Raised More Than $34 Million in Funding, and Secured Key Financial Institutions and Software Companies As Customers
IP Commerce is the creator of the world’s first open commerce network delivering on-demand access to the next-generation of commerce services. Referred to as a “services grid for the payments industry,” its technology was built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and a service-oriented software architecture (SOA) that enable financial institutions, merchants, and consumers to radically improve the way payments are made. Founded in 2005, the company has created a fresh approach to payment systems, one that will benefit both businesses and consumers.
The Microsoft Connection?
According to Chip Kahn, Founder and CEO, the Emerging Business Team provided a lot of directional guidance early on. “We were able to cultivate some relationships on our own building off the contacts I had from working with the Dynamics group for several months, plus we actually have a person based in Seattle who focuses on the Microsoft relationship.”
In 2006, the company was selected as a strategic launch partner for the Windows Vista operating system release. Since then, as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, the company has focused on the channel and marketing side of its relationship with Microsoft. Explains Kahn, “That has proven really valuable. It has helped us drive credibility in the marketplace with software ISVs.”
Explains Kahn, “We’re not a consumer, Web 2.0-based play, we’re an Internet infrastructure play. And our success will be largely invisible to consumers, but visible by the success of our partner companies. Our big vision is to create the first open payment network over the Internet that has all of the major payment players and software connected and collaborating.”
Where are they now?
Kahn says they are reaching a ‘critical mass’ in the U.S. market with its payment service relationships and software companies. Says Kahn, “We don’t sell to a merchant, we sell to software companies, banks, big payment processors, and big channels such as Best Buy.”
IP Commerce maintains partnerships with some of the world’s most respected financial institutions and softwrare companies, including Microsoft, PayPal, Chase Paymentech, CIT Group, TransFirst, Dialect (now part of TNS), Internet Commerce Corporation, BankServ, and AmbironTrustWave. In addition, it implemented with two of the 10 largest acquiring banks in 2006. Acquiring banks (also known as merchant banks) facilitate a credit card transaction between the merchant and the card issuer. Chase Paymentech is the largest acquiring bank in the U.S.
In January 2008, the company introduced its IP Commerce Platform—an open commerce network and backend technology that connects financial institutions, service providers, software development companies and established distribution channels to create and distribute new commerce solutions.
"The IP Commerce Platform takes the pain out of the development and delivery of payment solutions for small businesses," explains Kahn. "By making the process of payment application development more intuitive, everyone involved in the process—from the software company to the distribution channel—can cut costs, increase speed to market, and grow their channel. It gives our partners unprecedented flexibility that's never been seen before in the payments industry."
In early June 2008, the company raised $17.5 million in Series C funding. The round was led by Venrock, the venture capital firm founded by the Rockefeller family. To date, IP Commerce has raised more than $34 million in venture funding, and plans to use the funds to accelerate adoption of its IP Commerce Network, particularly in the software development community and the financial services industry. It also has funding from two Colorado-based VC firms, Meritage Funds and Appian Ventures.
In the coming months, IP Commerce plans to offer commerce-enabled versions of additional Microsoft products. Says Kahn, “We’re working through some of the native capabilities in Office Accounting 2008, and want to have private-label versions so a bank could extend their brand to the desktop and enable the same authentication.”
