Mobile banking pioneer mFoundry nabs $18M from MasterCard, Intel Capital and others

You could say that mFoundry was totally into mobile payments before it was cool. Now the company is reaping the rewards of being an early adopter, announcing today that it has received $18 million in growth-capital funding led by MasterCard, following a recently announced partnership between the two companies.

mFoundry says the funds will be used to push development of new mobile payments products, as well as to expand its mobile banking business. The company provides mobile banking capabilities to almost 600 banks and credit unions across the U.S., and it powers the payments feature behind Starbucks’ wildly popular mobile apps.

Last week, mFoundry and MasterCard announced a partnership to combine the credit card company’s NFC-based PayPass technology with mFoundry’s mobile financial services platform. The deal gives mFoundry a leg-up with NFC (near-field communications), something it hasn’t been able to offer customers so far. The NFC option will means consumers will be able to use mFoundry’s services on existing PayPass terminals.

“The opportunity in mobile financial services is enormous” mFoundry co-founder and CEO Drew Sievers said in a statement today. “While our existing mobile banking business is scaling rapidly, there are many other related opportunities that we believe can add significant incremental value to our company.”

The growth round also saw participation from Intel Capital, banking software maker FIS, and Motorola Mobility. mFoundry says it will continue to work together with FIS around mobile banking opportunities, but it will now also court additional opportunities from the above investors.

Founded in 2004, mFoundry is based in Larkspur, Calif. and has raised $50 million in funding to date.