American Express today announced a
new multi-year digital commerce initiative designed to help identify and
develop innovative technologies that will help accelerate the company's
digital transformation and strengthen connections to a growing base of
customers around the globe by investing $100
million in early stage startups in the digital commerce space.
"American
Express is a 162 year old company that has continuously reinvented
itself," said Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth, American
Express. "As we enter the next chapter in our history, we recognize the
need to work with emerging technology companies to inspire change,
encourage innovation, and ultimately deliver the best products and
services to our customers."
The American Express digital commerce
initiative will be managed out of the company's newly established office
in Silicon Valley and led by Harshul Sanghi, who was recently appointed
as Managing Partner, Enterprise Growth Group. Mr. Sanghi previously ran
Motorola Mobility Ventures and brings a deep understanding of the
venture community, as well as extensive expertise in identifying and
working with promising early startups.
"The payments industry is
underdoing a fundamental change as the very nature of commerce is
redefined," said Mr. Sanghi. "We believe our global network of
businesses and consumers, international employee base, world-class
customer service and data analytics will provide a significant advantage
to potential portfolio companies."
American Express' digital
commerce initiative will look to make investments in companies
focused on serving critical parts of the digital commerce experience,
including loyalty and rewards, mobile and online payment management,
fee-based services, security and fraud detection and data analysis.
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