Facebook recently snagged an additional $200 million in funding from Russian investors. MySpace just slashed 480 jobs. The advertising model is simply not working and social networks are struggling to find alternative monetization strategies.
Microtransactions, like those we see in gaming or in sending people virtual gifts, could be a solution – oneTXT, is trying to simplify this form of social media payments. The New York-based startup, which offers a social media payment platform, has closed $2 million in Series A financing from Metamorphic Ventures, KPG Ventures and New York Angels Fund.
Instead of acting as a third party payment platform, oneTXT offers a platform where consumers enroll simply by using their mobile phone numbers. This gives them access to simple payments for points, items, discounts, etc.
Roger Wood, CEO of oneTXT compared the service to other transaction solutions like iTunes and Amazon’s 1-click. He said, “Our hypothesis is that the payments world of tomorrow will look very different from the one which made PayPal a juggernaut with eBay’s momentum,” when referring to oneTXT. Besides being a simple payment platform, oneTXT says it can create loyalty programs and send marketing messages without a third party owning the information or relationship with the consumer.
OneTXT is currently in private beta mode. Its platform runs on the iPhone, Palm and Blackberry phones.
