Not to be out-done by Payleven, iZettle and all the other Square clones out there, Italian mobile POS startup Jusp has now secured a $6 million equity round with two Italian VCs, making it one of the biggest rounds in Italy this year. The round was led by Principia Sgr together with Vertis Sgr with the participation of some Angel Investors: Stefano Calderano (previously BNP Paribas and Intesa), Paolo Guida (Lehman), Giulio Valiante (Saldi Privati and Jobrapido), Simone Ranucci Brandimarte (Glamoo) and Bruno Spadoni (Setefi) who also led the first $700,000 seed investment into Jusp made in 2012. Jusp now hopes to launch in other European countries.
Jusp’s proprietary Point Of Sale device uses Chip&Pin rather than the usual signing of some competitors, though iZettle beat them to it with a Chip & Pin reader back in February.
Jusp also connects to the audio jack, avoiding those pesky Apple licensing fees, as Square pioneered. The pricing comes in at €39 per unit (it works with iOS and Android smartphones and tablets) and levies a 2.7% merchant fee for any transaction, therefore coming in under the competition (Square has yet to launch in Europe).
iZettle’s Chip & PIN costs €49 and Payleven is also €49. With iZettle, merchants pay 2.75% of each transaction amount.
The founders of Jusp are Jacopo Vanetti (CTO) and Giuseppe Saponaro (COO) and are joined by Stefano Calderano, CEO, while Roberto Mazzei, Chairman of Principia sgr, takes the Chairman role.