Background
Mocapay, established in 2006 and headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is a privately held, venture-funded company specializing in mobile payment solutions. The company offers a mobile experience platform that integrates with merchants' existing payment, loyalty, gift, social media, and coupon programs. By leveraging patented security and closed-loop ROI technology, Mocapay enables merchants to broaden their customer reach, enhance engagement, and strengthen brand identity beyond the point of sale. The platform is designed to be flexible, compatible with any handset or network, and integrates seamlessly with various point-of-sale systems, processors, wallets, or existing programs. Mocapay's mission is to provide innovative mobile solutions that empower businesses to connect with their customers in meaningful ways.
Key Strategic Focus
Mocapay's strategic focus centers on delivering a comprehensive mobile experience platform that enables merchants to mobilize their existing programs. The company's core objectives include:
- Mobile Payments: Facilitating secure mobile transactions that integrate with merchants' current payment systems.
- Loyalty and Gift Programs: Enhancing customer engagement through mobile-enabled loyalty and gift card solutions.
- Marketing Integration: Providing tools for merchants to send targeted promotional messages and offers to customers via mobile channels.
Mocapay's platform is designed to be hardware-agnostic, ensuring compatibility across various devices and networks, thereby allowing merchants to reach a broader customer base.
Financials and Funding
Mocapay has undergone multiple funding rounds to support its growth and development:
- Series A Funding: In 2008, the company secured $3.25 million in a Series A funding round led by the Lacuna Venture Fund LLP.
- Series B Funding: In June 2021, Mocapay raised $3 million in a Series B funding round.
These investments have been utilized to expand the company's services, enhance its platform capabilities, and support strategic partnerships.
Technological Platform and Innovation
Mocapay's platform stands out due to its proprietary technologies and innovative approaches:
- Mobile Integration: The platform allows merchants to mobilize existing payment, loyalty, and gift programs, integrating seamlessly with current systems.
- Security Architecture: Utilizing a tokenization architecture, Mocapay ensures that every mobile payment transaction is executed securely with a one-time use and perishable authorization code.
- Marketing Tools: Merchants can send targeted, one-to-one messages and offers to customers, enhancing engagement and driving sales.
Leadership Team
Mocapay's leadership comprises experienced professionals with diverse backgrounds:
- John Burns: Co-Founder, Chairman & President.
- Shawn Sinner: Co-Founder, Chief Revenue Officer & President.
- Song Kim: Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President.
- Rajeev Arora: Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer & Board Member.
- Michael Moehle: Chief Sales Officer.
These leaders bring extensive experience in financial services, technology, and business development, driving Mocapay's strategic initiatives and growth.
Competitor Profile
Mocapay operates in the competitive mobile payment solutions industry, facing competition from several key players:
- Dwolla: A venture capital-backed company based in Des Moines, IA, offering financial software solutions.
- Venmo: A New York-based company providing mobile payment services.
- NetSpend: A private equity-backed company in Austin, TX, specializing in prepaid debit cards.
- Akimbo Financial: A San Antonio-based company offering financial services.
- UniRush: A West Chester, OH-based company providing financial services.
These competitors focus on various aspects of mobile payments, prepaid cards, and financial software, contributing to a dynamic and evolving market landscape.
Strategic Collaborations and Partnerships
Mocapay has established significant partnerships to enhance its market position and service offerings:
- Postec, Inc.: A partnership to deliver mobile loyalty and gift programs, enabling merchants to connect with consumers through mobile payments and promotional offers.
- VeriFone: A strategic partnership to integrate mobile gift and couponing services with VeriFone's customer-facing payment systems, expanding Mocapay's reach to a broader set of merchants.
- zpizza: A collaboration to mobilize zpizza's gift and customer loyalty programs, allowing customers to conduct mobile transactions and receive targeted promotional messages.
These partnerships demonstrate Mocapay's commitment to expanding its services and providing value-added solutions to merchants.
Operational Insights
Mocapay's strategic considerations include:
- Market Positioning: Focusing on providing a flexible, secure, and comprehensive mobile payment platform that integrates with existing merchant systems.
- Competitive Advantages: Offering a hardware-agnostic solution with robust security features and marketing tools, differentiating itself from competitors.
- Customer Engagement: Enabling merchants to enhance customer engagement through mobile-enabled loyalty.