Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Clearstone Backs Openbucks
Santa Monica-based venture capital firm Clearstone Ventures is backing a Bay Area gift card-based, payment network, Openbucks, as part of a Series A funding for Openbucks. According to Openbucks, it has raised $4.8M in a Series A for the company, which allows users to trade in gift cards from a number of retailers to pay for merchandise and services online. The round was led by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, and also included Terry Semel, Greycroft Partners, BV Capital, Morado Ventures, Novel TMT Ventures, Inspiration Ventures, CrunchFund, SV Angel and TiE Angels, along with the involvement of Clearstone Ventures. Openbucks said that users can trade in gift cards from Subway, CVS Pharmacy, Burger King, Shell, Circle-K and CITGO, among others, to pay for online purchases from multiple online retailers. The company is targeting unbanked and underbanked consumers, as well as teenagers, to help people who don't have credit cards or a bank account to pay for online purchases. More information »