US-based mobile payment company Square has secured $100m in a series E round that valued it at almost $6bn, Fortune reported on Friday.
Although the investors in the current round have not been disclosed, sources have told Fortune that the state-backed Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) provided most of the cash, and that additional parties have verbally committed to a further $100m.
Square provides a range of mobile payment services and also operates as an aggregator for online merchant services. It obtained a $225m credit line in April at the same time as a secondary share offering issued at a $5bn valuation.
The company has now raised approximately $440m since it was founded in 2009 from backers also including Citi Ventures, financial services firm Citi’s corporate venturing unit, coffee company Starbucks, payment services provider Visa, Rizvi Traverse Management, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global Management.
Square, which made a net loss of about $100m last year, has not revealed how it plans to use the cash, but it could be put towards acquisitions. The company bought restaurant delivery company Caviar last month for $90m in an all-share deal and is looking to broaden its offering.
Prior to the latest funding, Square was reportedly in talks with computing company Apple over an acquisition, according to TechCrunch, only for they payment company to balk at Apple’s proposed $3bn valuation and a range of products Apple demonstrated which reportedly would have clashed with Square’s own products.
– Photo courtesy of Square