今天，移动支付公司Square宣布，已从星巴克公司（Starbucks Corp.）获得2,500万美元的投资。这是双方更大规模战略合作的一部分。这一合作将使Square的技术进入星巴克在全美的7,000家连锁店。

    未来，星巴克的顾客不可以使用Square的智能手机应用买单，Square还将处理星巴克在美所有的信用卡和借记卡交易（这就将Square这一创业公司从硬件供应商向软件供应商的转变再次推进了一步）。

    星巴克首席执行官霍华德•舒尔茨已加入Square公司的董事会。日前，他在美国全国广播公司财经频道（CNBC）的一档访谈节目中称，移动应用在试点应用Square软件的门店能带来更多生意。而且，一旦今年晚些时候这一应用在全美铺开，它将成为公司业务迅猛增长的一大推动力。

    舒尔茨称：“我们注意到，顾客行为上的巨大变化不仅发生在星巴克，只要是那些顾客把手机作为主要设备的市场，一概如此。现在，我们的顾客中有超过25%的人在使用星巴克会员卡。不过我想，他们很快就会弃卡而去，直奔Square的平台。”

    读者朋友可以观看CNBC对舒尔茨和Square的创始人杰克•多尔西的访谈，了解更多详情（多尔西还被问及他另一个创业公司Twitter未来的独立性问题。）

    此前，Square已从多家风投公司募得了总额为1.2亿美元的资金。这些公司包括：科斯拉创投公司（Khosla Ventures）、首轮资本公司（First Round Capital）、红杉资本（Sequoia Capital）、Visa公司、凯鹏华盈基金公司（Kleiner Perkins）以及老虎基金（Tiger Global）。星巴克的这笔投资是D轮投资的第一笔。这轮投资据称对Square的估值为30亿美元到40亿美元。

    译者：清远

    Mobile payments company Square today announced that it has raised $25 million in equity funding from Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), as part of a larger strategic partnership that will see Square technology incorporated into most of the coffee chain's 7,000 U.S. stores.

    Not only will customers be able to use their Square smartphone apps to make their payments, but Square also will process all of Starbucks' U.S. credit and debit card transactions (furthering the startup's transformation from a hardware to software provider).

    Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who is joining the Square board of directors, said during a CNBC interview that mobile payment has been accretive to transactions in test sites and that it would be a big "boost" for the company once rolled out nationwide later this year.

    "We've seen a seismic change in behavior not only at Starbucks but in the entire marketplace with people using phones as their primary device," Schultz says. "Right now over 25% of our customer base is using a Starbucks card, and I think they're going to migrate off the card and onto the Square platform very quickly."

    See more of the CNBC interview with Schultz and Square founder Jack Dorsey (who also gets asked about future independence of his other little startup: Twitter).

    Square previously raised around $120 million in VC funding from Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Sequoia Capital, Visa Corp., Kleiner Perkins and Tiger Global. The Starbucks investment is the first part of a Series D round that reportedly valued the company at between $3 billion and $4 billion.