移动支付初创公司Square市值翻番

    经过连续数月的融资，增长最快的移动支付初创公司Square周一宣布，公司新一轮融资超过了2亿美元。据交易知情人士透露，投资方估算公司市值约为32.5亿美元。2011年，公司曾经融资1亿美元，与当时相比，公司如今的市值大约翻了一番。

    此外，Square公司还表示，目前公司处理的支付交易量达到每年80亿美元，高于去年十月的20亿美元。Square公司的移动支付技术可以让消费者轻松免掉携带现金的麻烦。今年春天，公司就开始了新一轮融资。知情人士透露，当时，公司高管原本希望借Facebook成功IPO的东风，降低融资的难度，同时获得更高的估值。结果Facebook的IPO惨淡收场，许多科技投资者变得更加小心翼翼。目前，外界并不确定这种情绪对Square的融资是否产生过影响。

    此次获得的投资可以帮助Square抵御来自对手的残酷竞争。科技巨头谷歌（Google）与PayPal、金融业公司惠尔丰（VeriFone）和NCR公司，以及大批零售商、移动运营商等，都希望能在规模虽小但增长迅猛的移动支付市场分一杯羹。

    Square公司的投资者包括花旗集团（Citigroup ）旗下的风投公司Citi Ventures、小型私募股权公司Rizvi Traverse Management和星巴克咖啡（Starbucks Coffee）。八月，Square宣布星巴克对其注资，当时，这两家公司公布了一项交易——美国的星巴克咖啡店将使用Square处理信用卡交易。《纽约时报》（The New York Times）7月时曾报道称，小型私募股权公司Rizvi也可能对Square进行了投资。

    翻译：刘进龙/汪皓

    After a fundraising process that lasted several months, Square, the fast growing mobile payments startup, said on Monday that it has raised more than $200 million in a new round of financing. The investment values the company at approximately $3.25 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction, or roughly double its valuation following a $100 million financing round in the summer of 2011.

    Square also said that it is now processing payments at a rate of $8 billion annually, up from about $2 billion last October. Square, whose mobile payment technologies are making it ever easier for consumers to do away with cash, began its fundraising effort this spring. People close the company said its executives were hoping that a successful IPO from Facebook (FB) might help Square raise cash more easily and at a high valuation. But after the Facebook IPO turned into a fiasco, many technology investors became more skittish. It is not clear if that sentiment affected Square's fundraising process.

    The additional cash will help Square to fend off stiff competition from tech giants like Google (GOOG) and PayPal, financial industry firms like VeriFone (PAY) and NCR (NCR), and a slew of retailers, mobile carriers and others who vying for a piece of the small, but fast growing, mobile payments market.

    Square's investors include Citi Ventures, the venture capital arm of Citigroup (C), Rizvi Traverse Management, and Starbucks Coffee (SBUX). Square announced the Starbucks investment in August, when the two companies unveiled a deal under which Square will process credit cards payments at the coffee chain's stores in the United States. A likely investment from Rizvi, a small private equity firm, was reported in July by The New York Times.