Boku, a US-based mobile payments platform Boku developer that counts telecommunications company Telefónica as an investor, has raised $13.8m in funding.
The oversubscribed round featured venture capital firms Khosla Ventures, Benchmark Capital, New Enterprise Associates, Index Ventures and DAG Ventures, as well as undisclosed existing investors.
Boku bills itself as “the world’s largest direct carrier billing mobile payments company,” and partners with large online companies such as Facebook, Sony, Microsoft and Spotify to enable customers to pay for services through their mobile credit or bills rather than credit and debit cards.
Although carrier billing payments have traditionally been popular in developing countries without wide access to credit cards, the company said it has experienced “explosive growth” in developed markets. It will put the money toward international expansion.
Boku has now raised a total of $91m since it was founded in 2009. Telefónica Digital, a subsidiary of Telefónica subsequently closed in 2014, took part in a $35m round in 2012 that included NEA, Index, Khosla, Benchmark, DAG Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.
Jon Prideaux, Boku’s chief executive, said: “Carrier billing is evolving from being a niche product for phone-centric content into a mainstream payment method used by the world’s major brands for all types of digital products.”