Startup Sequent Software Secures VC Funding to Make NFC Mobile Payments Easy

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequent Software (www.sequentsw.com), a leading provider of NFC (near field communication) software and systems, announced today that it has closed a series A financing.  Opus Capital and SK Telecom Ventures led the financing, which will fuel Sequent's growth as it drives commercial NFC mobile payment deployments of large customers and partners and allows consumers to make payments and other transactions with their mobile devices.

NFC-enabled mobile devices from manufacturers such as RIM and Google will give consumers the opportunity to download payment cards and other credentials to their phones, using them for payments, offers, and product information in retail stores with the wave of a hand.  The difficulty of connecting the legacy payments infrastructure with the rapidly moving mobile ecosystem has confounded each industry for years.  Unleashing the power of a consumer's secure payment credentials onto a smart device such as a mobile phone will unite the richness of the Internet, the power of mobility and the reach of electronic payment.  

"Sequent's solution is innovative and unique in that we do not require significant changes to the existing, highly secure and complex payments infrastructure," said Sequent CEO Drew Weinstein.  "We are the only company whose sole focus is being a neutral, pervasive administrator of individuals' personal identification and credentials between the payments world, retailers, smartphone providers and mobile network operators."

Bob Borchers from Opus Capital and Rob Trice from SK Telecom Ventures will join the board with this fundraising.  "Drew and the Sequent team have created an amazing platform for making NFC implementations and transactions easy and compelling," said Bob Borchers, General Partner at Opus Capital.  "We are excited to help Sequent grow into the global leader in NFC systems and services."

Over the next year, payments and retail interactions will connect the richness of the Internet with the pervasive presence of mobile phones.  Sequent's comprehensive NFC platform and on-device software is offered as a hosted solution to help companies get to market quickly, or can be licensed and locally deployed.  Additionally, Sequent provides end-to-end services, such as customer diagnostics and care, business intelligence analytics, and hardware and software deployment.  Over the course of 2011, Sequent's customer base will be providing live NFC transactions at the tens of thousands of NFC-enabled point-of-sale (POS) already being used in retail with "contactless credit cards" such as Visa payWave and MasterCard PayPass.

About Sequent

Sequent provides the simplest solution for payment networks, retailers and the mobile ecosystem to offer NFC (near field communication) services to consumers.  As the only company built as a dedicated Root TSM (Trusted Service Manager), Sequent's comprehensive, turnkey suite of innovative software and services enables companies to quickly and easily enable payment cards from financial institutions, merchants, and transit agencies on NFC-enabled mobile devices.  Sequent applies a highly secure yet nimble architecture to unleash the next generation of personal interactions on mobile devices in the physical world.  For more information, please go to www.sequentsw.com. 

Sequent is located in Redwood City, CA, and previously operated as Sparq Mobile Solutions.

SOURCE Sequent Software