France-based near-field communication (NFC) technology developer Famoco raised €11m ($11.7m) in capital on Monday from a consortium that included telecommunications firm Orange, rail network operator SNCF and financial services firm BNP Paribas.
The corporates, which participated through their respective Orange Digital Ventures, SNCF Digital Ventures and BNP Paribas Développement units, were joined by Idinvest Partners, which led the round, public investment bank Bpifrance, which took part through the Ambition Numérique fund, Hi Inov and Aurinvest.
Famoco produces enterprise devices based on a secured version of the Android mobile operaing system that include NFC technology, which is best known for enabling contactless payments.
The technology powers, for example, terminals in French retail stores that enable Chinese tourists to use China-based payment platform Alipay for purchases.
The company hopes to double its staff this year, adding more than 50 team members and opening offices in Europe, the US, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It has already established a team in India and will further expand its presence in that market.
Bpifrance, Hi Inov and Aurinvest previously supplied €4m for Famoco in 2015, following a $1m in investment from Aurinvest and Fast Forward in 2013.
Pierre Louette, chairman of Orange Digital Ventures, said: “This acquisition of equity is a logical next step, and reinforces our existing industrial partnership with Famoco, who is involved in the deployment of Orange Money in Africa.
“It also underlines our commitment to accompany the digital transformation of our corporate clients with innovative solutions, and to support the international development of Famoco.”