According to a person with knowledge of the investment, Square had recently closed a venture funding round worth $150 million, valuing the company at $6 billion.
A filing disclosed earlier said that Square had plans of raising at least $100 million but at the time the funding round was still open. Now that the round is over, details are trickling in, including the participation of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, a new investor. Other investors who joined this latest funding round include previous supporters Rizvi Traverse Management and Goldman Sachs, said the person.
Square has confirmed the company recently closed a funding round but did not elaborate on the amount it raised, its valuation, or which investors had participated. "We stand for independent businesses and will continue to invest aggressively to empower them with tools that help them grow," said a spokesperson for the company.
If the $6 billion valuation is correct, this funding round puts Square in the company of internet start-ups like Spotify and Pinterest.
As a six-year-old start-up, Square had spent a lot of its time at the beginning giving away credit card readers for free to small- and medium-sized businesses. In return, it was to receive 2.75 percent of every transaction that used its reader. The company has done well for the most part, becoming particularly popular with merchants that typically employed all-cash operations, but now it has to step up to deal with a number of changes in the payment industry.
There's Apple Pay from Apple. Amazon had just recently released its own credit card reader. And Ebay and PayPal have decided to separate, strengthening each other with independence.
These companies were competing with Square at some level or another and they had larger pools of money to tap into for developing products so a new funding round was necessary.
Still, Square didn't wait around until its latest funding round was finished before taking action, diversifying into other revenue streams outside of its core business. It introduced Square Capital in May, a cash-advance program from small businesses, and acquired Caviar, a food-delivery service for restaurants. For a monthly fee, Square can also provide booking services for appointments for small businesses.
As for future plans, Square is scheduled to roll out a new EMV-compatible card reader for more secure processing for credit cards and is looking into accepting Apple Pay payments to increase transaction volume.
Previous rounds of funding for Square have totaled around $440.5 million.
