Align Commerce

Align Commerce
Private
Industry Payment services
Founded San Francisco (2014 (2014))
Founder
  • Aldo Carrascoso
  • Marwan Forzley
Headquarters One Embarcadero Center, Suite 500, CA 94111, San Francisco, United Sates
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Marwan Forzley (CEO)
  • Aldo Carrascoso (COO) - (CTO)
Website aligncommerce.com

Align Commerce is an online worldwide payment service provider. The company was founded in 2014 and has its headquarters in San Francisco. Align Commerce claims to be the first company to use bitcoin's block-chain to enhance international transactions.[1] It was named among the most promising bitcoin startups of 2014 by Bitpost.[2]

History

Align Commerce was founded in San Francisco by Aldo Carrascoso and Marwan Forzley in early 2014.[3] Forzley's previous company, eBillme, provided a platform that allowed online merchants to charge customers through an escrow payment system.[4] Following the sale of eBillme to Western Union in 2011, Forzley worked for them as the general manager of ecommerce for three years. Eventually he started considering a similar to eBillme platform for international commercial transactions or for the payment of employees based abroad.[4][5][6] To achieve such a service, Forzley and Carrascoso thought of using bitcoin's blockchain as the container of transactions between endpoints in different countries, in order to bypass banks that act as intermediaries in such transactions.[7][8] Carrascoso’s early work on bitcoin protocol applications coupled with his work on the Jukin Media licensing platform allowed them to launch the first version of the multi-rail system in mid-2014.

Starting its operation, Align Commerce was accepted in Tribe4 startup accelerator program.[9] After launching the application on a private beta mode, the company managed to offer its platform on public beta, in April 2015, claiming to be the first company to successfully use block chains for international financial transactions.[7][10][11] Upon the launch of its beta version the company's services were made available in a total of 34 countries, with the University of Nicosia being among the first clients.[11] A wide range of investors including Pantera Capital, Boost VC, Bitcoin Opportunity Corp and Fenway Summer among others, provided Align Commerce with seed funding in order for the company to develop.[12]

Align Commerce closed a $12.5 million funding round in November 2015.[13] This round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers who had previously never invested in a bitcoin related company.[14] Along with the funding, KPCB general partner Randy Komisar became a member of Align Commerce's board of directors. Additional investors in the round included Recruit Venture Partners, Pantera Capital, Digital Currency Group, and FS Venture Capital LLC.[15]

Services

Align Commerce offers payment services making use of block-chain databases.[10][16] When a business sells products or services abroad, it has to issue an invoice notification to the buyer to be paid in the buyer's local currency.[16][17] The block chain will then carry the payment to the receiver, bypassing intermediaries banks.[16][17] The Align Commerce system then converts the currency into the seller's currency and makes a deposit into a bank chosen by the seller.[16][17] In this way the payment is made in the seller's local currency, even if the buyer pays in a different currency.[18]

Using a block chain reduces payment times, transaction costs and gives the ability to track payments in real-time.[5] The service aims to assist, primarily, small companies having transactions in the range of a few hundred dollars to around $10,000, facing difficulties dealing with foreign currencies.[16][4] In order to enhance transparency and help its customers overcome difficulties in understanding foreign exchange markets, Align Commerce gives the mid-market rate and applies a fixed spread.[4] The platform charges a 1.9% commission of the transferred amount to the buyer.[1][10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Align Commerce Testing Global Blockchain Payments". PYMNTS.com. April 3, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ Iesypenko, Kateryna (November 13, 2014). "The Most Promising Bitcoin Startups of 2014". bitpost.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ Ngo, Diana (April 3, 2015). "SF Startup Targets B2B Global Payments with Blockchain Rails, Public Beta Release". Cointelegraph.com. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Groenfeldt, Tom (March 9, 2015). "Cross-Border Commerce Can Ride Block Chain Rails". Forbes. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Caruthers, Renee (May 21, 2015). "Global payments startup leverages blockchain engine to reduce cross-border friction". FierceFinanceIT. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ Brandon, John (Jul 7, 2015). "Will Bitcoin become a legitimate currency for large companies?". CIO.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Cawrey, Daniel (January 11, 2015). "Payments Veterans Seek to Unlock Blockchain's Power With Align Commerce". Coindesk.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ Buenaventura, Luis (January 30, 2015). "The Bootstrapper’s Guide To Bitcoin Remittances". Tech Crunch. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ Sharkey, Tom (October 30, 2014). "Boost VC Demo Day: Meet Tribe 4's Bitcoin Startups". Coindesk.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  10. 1 2 3 Donnelly, Jacob (April 3, 2015). "Align Commerce Launches Public Beta of International Payments Platform". Bitcoinmagazine.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  11. 1 2 Lyasota, Zhanna (April 3, 2015). "Align Commerce ‘Wants to Kill Bank Wires’ with Blockchain-based B2B Payments System". Coinspeaker.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Rizzo, Pete (April 29, 2015). "Raj Date-Led VC Firm Backs Align Commerce Seed Round". Coindesk.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  13. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya (17 November 2015). "Kleiner Perkins Makes First Bitcoin Related Deal With Aligh Commerce". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Shin, Laura (17 November 2015). "Kleiner Perkins Makes First Bitcon Startup Investment With B2B Payments Provider Align Commerce". Forbes. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (17 November 2015). "Align Commerce Raises $12.5 Million To Simplify Cross Border Payments For Business Using Blockchain". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Quibria , Nasreen (August 7, 2015). "Blockchain Holds Promise for Cross-Border Payments". American Banker. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Wolman, David (January 16, 2015). "The 'internet weirdos' of bitcoin are changing the way money works". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  18. ↑ Kala, Sid (February 25, 2015). "Align Commerce Uses Bitcoin to Power Cross-Border Trade". Bitcoin News. Retrieved August 12, 2015.

External links

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