Stratos, Inc. Secures Over $5.8 Million to Launch Bluetooth Connected Card™ Platform for Mobile Payments

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Stratos, Inc., creator of the Bluetooth Connected Card™ Platform, today announced it has secured $5.8 million in funding to-date. Stratos combines all plastic cards into a single, smart, dynamic card, empowering people to make better, more informed payment decisions while simplifying transactions through a secure, familiar, universally accepted format.

"We are in production to deliver a groundbreaking card that will simplify consumers' lives," said Stratos CEO Thiago Olson. "This funding has allowed us to accelerate and scale our recruiting, manufacturing and customer support. Our vision is to build long-term relationships with our card members by continuously delivering innovative payment solutions that will always be convenient, reliable and secure."

The success of today's Stratos funding is important as it means no upfront investment for card users. Funding has come from Toba Capital Partners, Western Technology Investment, Resonant Venture Partners and Hyde Park Venture Partners.

"Thiago is one of those rare founders who has the unique balance of both deep technical prowess and consumer insight," said Jason Townsend, managing director of Resonant Venture Partners. "Stratos has built a scalable organization that will bring transformative products to the payments, access and ID sectors. From the outset Thiago and team have tackled the hardest technology challenges in the industry. They have flown under the radar quietly building in-house technology and strategic partnerships that place them in a great position to lead this market."

Stratos was founded by Olson, Chris Bartenstein and Henry Balanon. Olson, a standout in the technology and mobile space, serves as the CEO and oversees the company's strategic direction. Bartenstein, COO, manages day-to-day operations and the global supply chain, while Balanon, a successful technology entrepreneur and Stratos CTO, oversees product development, engineering and quality assurance.

Stratos leadership also includes:

• CMO Sheila Dahlgren, who leads product marketing and corporate communications for Stratos. Dahlgren co-founded Scene7, acquired by Adobe and held senior leadership marketing roles at Adobe, Mattel, Broderbund Software and Clorox.
• CFO and VP Operations Craig Sprinkle, who oversees the company's accounting, finance, HR and areas of the company's global supply chain operations. Sprinkle most recently served as CFO of ePrize Inc., now HelloWorld, where he led five acquisitions in 18 months and oversaw the sale of the company to Catterton Partners.

"Consumers want safer and more convenient ways to pay in all channels," said Olson. "We hope to accelerate consumer adoption for mobile payments by making our platform frictionless with respect to merchant infrastructure. We are excited to be collaborating with the eco-system of technology companies, financial institutions, networks and merchants who share our vision."

About Stratos, Inc.
Stratos, Inc. is the creator of the Stratos Bluetooth Connected Card™ Platform that combines plastic cards into a single, smart, dynamic card. Credit, debit, loyalty, membership and gift cards can be loaded into one mobile-connected card, empowering people to make better, more informed payment decisions while simplifying transactions through a familiar, reliable form. Stratos allows merchants and card issuers to strengthen brand loyalty with better data and improved communications to card users without infrastructure change. For more information, visit http://www.stratoscard.com.

Media Contact:
Beth Swierk
[email protected]
(312) 329-3911 

Sheila Dahlgren
[email protected] 

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141001/149858

SOURCE Stratos, Inc.