BOKU Inc.[1] is a global, mobile payments[2] company headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with offices in Singapore and the United Kingdom. The company is a provider of direct mobile payment solutions, allowing consumers in 63 countries to make purchases online using their mobile phone number. The BOKU service works across more than 220 different mobile carriers. The service enables online payments for consumers worldwide, and has a presence in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Boku launched[3] in 2009 with the acquisition of both Paymo and Mobillcash businesses – two leading providers in the global mobile payments industry, as well as $13 million USD in investment from venture capital firms.
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BOKU mobile payments provide a mechanism for payments that are highly secured and simple to use. In addition, mobile payments enable unbanked[4] consumers who may have a mobile phone, but no credit card or traditional bank account, to make purchases online.
The majority of transactions processed through BOKU involve digital and virtual goods[5] and services, including social and free-to-play games, virtual goods, social networks and other online experiences. BOKU focuses on making the mobile phone number a viable payment option not only for virtual goods, but for digital goods (i.e. MP3's, eBooks, movies, etc.) and physical goods as well.
BOKU has established partnerships with hundreds of game publishers and online services. Many gaming companies enable BOKU's service, including Electronic Arts, Playfish, Playdom, Cie Studios, GameDuell, Cyberstep Communications, IGG, King.com, NHN USA, Ntreev, Outspark, Perfect World, Aeria Games, Games-Master (Cabal Online), K2Networks/GamersFirst, Meez, Three Rings and WeeWorld, among others.
BOKU has raised more than $38M in venture capital[6] funding from Benchmark Capital[7], Index Ventures[8], Khosla Ventures[9], DAG Ventures[10], and Andreessen Horowitz[11]. The latest round of $25M was closed on January 19, 2010, and reported by VentureBeat[12].
In 2009, Frost & Sullivan named BOKU for their Best Practices award. In May 2010 the San Francisco Business Times named BOKU a top 25 Tech and Innovation award finalist. In 2010, Mobile Trax awarded BOKU their Mobility Award.