“Group” paying service WePay gets $7.5M boost

WePay, a company that lets groups of people make online payments from a single account, has raised $7.5 million more in a second round of funding.

The funding will be used to expand marketing and development for a growing user base, the company said.

The WePay platform allows users to set up accounts for groups of people to easy manage and collect funds. For example, a group account could be used to raise funds for a charity or collect rent amongst roommates. A recent partnership with 1000memories, a company that lets people create online memories, now allows users to open a free WePay account to raise funds in the memory of loved ones who have recently passes.

The company may remind you of PayPal, the online payment company that’s been in business since 2000, but WePay strongly promotes usage for groups instead. Our interview with co-founders Bill Clerico and Rich Alberman earlier this year, however, suggested there may be signs that WePay is “cannibalizing” many of PayPal’s customers. Proof of WePay’s potential? PayPal co-founder and one-time chief technology officer Max Levchin is an early angel investor.

The Palo-Alto, California-based company, founded in 2008, initially raised a first round of funding for $1.65 million from August Capital, which also participated in the second round of funding, led by Highland Capital Partners.