Will Americans Go with Canada’s Vogogo?

NEW YORK (InsideBitcoins) — The rush for dominance in the North American cryptocurrency market is heating up. Vogogo, a Canadian payment services and software development company, founded in 2008 by Geoff Gordon and Rodney Thompson, has processed more than $1 billion in U.S. and Canadian payments.

The company says what sets it apart is its ability to transact seamlessly between fiat based companies and firms that deal in cryptocurrencies.

“We watched several crypto groups enter the Canadian market, have a lot of success only to then be shut down by their bankers due to payment related fraud and/or no compliance structure,” co-founder Geoff Gordon told TechCrunch. “We put the Vogogo platform in front of a few crypto groups to resounding success in Canada. We are now adjusting our platform to scale these services and we will be replicating the service in the U.S., EU and other target markets.”

The American digital market is massive and growing, in fact it has been forecast to exceed $370 billion by 2017.  It’s also diversifying, one of the fastest growing segments has been continued interest in cryptocurrencies, namely bitcoin.

Vogogo has raised $8.5 million in venture capital funding through Southtech Capital Corporation in an “amalgamation agreement.” It’s not uncommon for venture capital firms to merge with the very technology companies that they help start up. It shows the technology company receiving the funding that the investor has the utmost confidence in what they’re doing.

And it’s also seen as a way to minimize risk as the venture capital firm is not on the “outside looking in” when it comes to understanding what the company is doing.

How will Americans react to Vogogo?

Vogogo offers three main products: “Eliminate Cheques,” a web app and API tools. The products allow businesses from all sizes — from start-ups to established brands — to complete transactions digitally in fiat currencies, such as the U.S. or Canadian dollar, or cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

As American adaptation of bitcoin hastens, more companies are likely to see it as a substantial value-add to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for their products and services. When these companies search for solutions to do so, Vogogo seems positioned to benefit.

Written by Darnell Jackson