Purse is a San Francisco-based Bitcoin e-commerce startup that operates a marketplace allowing users to buy and sell items on Amazon using bitcoin. The platform serves over 65,000 users. The company is led by CEO Andrew Lee and CTO Kent Liu. Purse raised $1M in seed funding led by Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group and previously raised $300k in November from Roger Ver, Bobby Lee, Terrence Yang, FundersClub and StrongVC. The company intends to use the funds to continue building the platform, expand operations and is hiring. The article does not disclose revenue or other financial metrics beyond user count and recent financings. Purse.io operates a peer-to-peer marketplace that matches Amazon shoppers who want to spend bitcoin with buyers who pay by credit/debit card or gift card, using bitcoin held in escrow to complete transactions. Customers post wishlists and place the correct amount of bitcoin in escrow; third-party buyers purchase the items with fiat or gift cards and the bitcoin is released on delivery. The platform reports more than 12,000 users and monthly transactions exceeding $120,000, and says average discounts for bitcoin shoppers have risen to around 20% over seven months since launch. Purse.io also offers Purse VIP, an invite-only premium program for Amazon Prime members that grants access to sub-10% discounts for the first 24 hours after listings are posted. The company highlights an opportunity in the roughly $15bn of outstanding Amazon gift cards and credit balances that are otherwise locked to individual accounts, which Purse.io enables users to monetize. It has redesigned its website, is featured on the Blockchain wallet as a preferred merchant, and plans to use new funding to build bitcoin apps and improve the user experience.

Total raised

$1M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Dec 2015