PayRange, a startup that allows vending machines to receive smartphone payments, today confirmed a $2.75 million round and announced notable investors like former Google Payments head Osama Bedier and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin.
We noted the fresh funding last month, but now the Portland-based company has revealed its investors, which include people like Bedier, Levchin, former Visa president Hans Morris, Money 20/20 co-founders Jonathan Weiner and Anil Aggarwal, real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, Jared Leto, and Phil Nadel.
PayRange, founded in 2013, has developed a small dongle that can be plugged into a vending machine, enabling users to purchase items with their smartphones. The product went from idea to market in just six months.
“Our vision is to eliminate the payment barrier in transactions. It is to make the payment disappear or become transparent from physical commerce,” CEO Paresh Patel. “We start with automated retailing because we believe mobile payment traction will happen first in markets where it displaces cash. This is because mobile payment in this space solves a real pain point as opposed to simply improving convenience.”