Think Big Coworking Member Dwolla Raises $16.5 Million

Ben Milne, Founder of Dwolla.

It’s one thing for a startup company to successfully launch in the Midwest.  But it’s a whole different story when a Midwestern company gets $16.5 million in funding.  But Des Moines-based startup Dwolla was recently given that exact amount from Andreessen Horowitz, Village Ventures, Thrive Capital and Union Square Ventures. 

For those who haven’t heard of Dwolla, the startup is a payment network that allows anyone to send, request and accept money (many people think of PayPal when they hear this description).  But Dwolla is built on its own network that securely connects to your bank account and allows you to move money for just $.25 per transaction or free for transactions of $10 or less.

It wasn’t too long ago that Think Big sat down with founder Ben Milne to discuss where Dwolla was headed.  At the time (December 2011), Ben stated that Dwolla was still in its infancy even though it was moving between $30 and $50 million every month.   But he was right.  The company has grown at 15% month-over-month and reached a quarter-million account holders up from 80,000 in early 2012.  And the company has only seemed to grow more as time goes on.

At the time of the interview, Dwolla had a miraculous 700+ investors interested in funding it.  And now, it seems as if four of those investors, including Adreessen Horowitz, finally committed the dollars.  Dwolla scored $16.5 million in new funding in a Series C just last week.

So Dwolla will continue to expand.   It wasn’t long ago that two of Dwolla’s developers moved into Think Big Coworking in order to expand to the Kansas City market.  We are so proud of the KC team—Brandon Ratzlaff and Nick Christus—and wish all the best for the entire Dwolla team—from Des Moines to Kansas City to its new expansion in San Francisco.

Learn more about Dwolla at www.dwolla.com. 

Path.To's Q&A with Founder of Dwolla Ben Milne

WRITTEN BY JILL FELSKA, FAIRY JOB MOTHER AT PATH.TO

At Path.To, we believe inspiration is key to doing your best work. Inspiration comes in all different shapes and sizes - often when you least expect it. Our team is most inspired by the innovation happening at startups across the country. We are constantly amazed by the unique and daring ways their teams are tackling problems, whether it's providing customers with a better, less expensive way to buy eyewear or solving the world's clean water crisis.

We kicked off our inspiration series to capture some of the insights, values and motivations of the startup teams we admire most. Whether talking design with Mig of 37signal or finding your "why" with Simon Sinek (coming in January), we always walk away from the interviews inspired and ready to better tackle our personal company mission of creating a happier workforce. We hope they'll provide fuel for your personal mission, as well. 

This month we sat down with Ben Milne, the founder of Dwolla, who talked with us about a range of ideas, from what makes an optimal job candidate to the best ways to establish a passionate company culture. We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we did.  

Read the full Q&A with Ben Milne of Dwolla here.  

For more inspiration, check back the first Monday of every month or sign up to have Path.To's series delivered straight to your inbox.

KCNext Explores the Future of Mobile Payments

Have you ever wanted to Tweet someone $5, just because? Or pay with your mobile phone without fear of identity theft? Well, now you can! KCnext’s Go: The Future of Mobile Payments was held on Monday and these exciting new payment methods were introduced to the Kansas City startup crowd. Chris Teso (Founder & CEO of Chirpify), Barb Pacheco (Senior VP of Federal Reserve Bank of KC) and Ben Milne (Founder & CEO of Dwolla) presented Monday afternoon and brought insight to the future (and even present) of mobile payments.

Chirpify is a new payment option on Twitter. Chirpify is another project from the maker of Tweet-A-Beer. Here’s how it works: A person sees a new track from their favorite artist on their Twitter page. He or she really wants to buy it! Instead of going to iTunes and searching for the track and then paying with their credit card, they can just Tweet “buy” on the artist’s post. And voila, the track is theirs! Seems too good to be true, right? Well check it out! It really is that simple!

Barb Pacheco from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shared information on how the current payment system works. The current payment system is fragmented and it takes a long time for payments to go through the whole system. Right now, checks are the most efficient way to pay individuals. So, what’s next?

Enter Dwolla. This is a new payment network that aims to fix all the problems with fraud and inefficiencies that hinder the current network of payments. It quickly transfers money from your bank to the payee’s bank. You can do transactions from your phone, computer, iPad; really anything with an internet connection. Sounds simple, right? It is! I guess Ashton Kutcher agrees, because he’s already invested in this startup!

Next time you want to scroll through a bunch of artists on iTunes and then go through the hassle of entering your credit card, remember Chirpify! And whenever you find yourself wanting to buy something online but you’re scared of identity theft, try Dwolla! These new payment methods are simple, so give ‘em a try and discover the future of mobile payments.

Dwolla: The Midwest Startup with 700 Interested Investors and a Billion Dollar Idea

How the startup that attracted 700 investors out of Des Moines, Iowa is impacting the world with a unique approach and creative culture.  

WRITTEN BY ALLISON WAY, SENIOR COPYWRITER & CHIEF EDITOR

It’s a pretty big deal to be named a Top 10 Startup of 2011.  But it’s an even bigger deal to be named a Top 10 Startup of 2011 and be from Des Moines, Iowa. 

A few days ago, ReadWriteWeb counted down the Top 10 Startups of 2011, which included a list of some of the most popular new businesses of the year like Zaarly, Fab.com, Pinterest, Dropbox and Evernote.  And among these well-known names was one company that was launched out of Des Moines, Iowa:  Dwolla.  

Dwolla is a mobile payment platform that sends and receives payments to bypass credit card fees.  With Dwolla, a user can sign up, load their accounts and head over to a retailer that uses Dwolla for mobile payments.  Dwolla offers a cheaper, safer and overall better payment experience.  

But in founder Ben Milne’s mind, Dwolla is much, much more than “a different and better way to access money.” 

Instead, Dwolla has become Milne’s haven for creation, innovation and collaboration.  The company has allowed Milne to build a culture unlike any that PayPal or Visa contribute to the user experience.  

“My favorite part of this venture has been the ability to create,” says Milne of launching the Dwolla startup.  “It’s empowering to come into the office with an idea and at the end of the day, it’s built.  At Dwolla, creation is just a part of everyday life.  Solving problems is part of our culture.”

And these problems are not ones that can be shooed away.  Dwolla has been known to be a product that solves “million dollar issues”.  According to Milne, the creation of Dwolla has positively affected people, small business and even large corporations. 

Although Dwolla is extremely successful (with over 700 interested investors and with moves between $30 and $50 million per month), Ben still believes that the company is just at the beginning on the startup journey.

“We have a long way to go,” he says.  “But these successes have truly validated our efforts.” 

But what’s it like building a successful startup out of the Midwest?  Obviously, Ben has not received the same resources or support that he would if he moved the company to Silicon Valley.  So how has the Des Moines startup gotten by? 

“The truth of the matter is, startups are hard everywhere,” says Milne.  “We actually had an advantage because we have a strong team and great community members.  If we had the opportunity to move, I would say no.  It’s good that it’s here.  We want it to be here.” 

How does Ben Milne of Dwolla Think Big?  “I don’t just want to pay the bills.  I want to do something that makes an impact.  I want to solve a problem that impacts the world.” 

We believe that Dwolla does just that. 

Follow me! @AllisonThinkBig