More impressively, the startup has raised $28 of that $33 million since July. They announced that they had raised $8 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Meck and Camp Ventures back on July 1st.
They market their technology to community banks and to the local merchants surrounding that bank. They issue their secure stickers with RFID tags that are tied to a customer's account which customers attach to any handset. The handset is now RFID enabled and can then be swiped near special terminals to purchase physical goods from stores that participate in the "nation."
Upon completion of the transaction, the purchaser receives an SMS message.
It's an interesting way to approach the market. I like the approach. First the community bank, then the community merchants, then the community consumers. Reminds me of the game of Risk or Stratego only they are doing it one community at a time.
On paper it might look like it would take an awful long time before there is a Bling "Nation" but that's not necessarily true. What they are doing is the equivalent to conducting several mini-pilots at once...and as the results of the pilots trickle in, they're armed with more powerful data/testimonial that it works. (which is probably why they've raised $28 million since July) This in turn empowers their pheromonial attraction to major strategic relationships. Interesting...
To see how Bling Nation works, click here for a 27 second video
