Start-Up Funds Available Through American Express

For businesses looking for some extra capital, American Express has launched an impressive Start-Up Fund.

The card company recently announced its intentions to invest up to $100 million in start-up companies dedicated to digital commerce.

Over the coming years, American Express will extend support to emerging businesses that can help improve the company’s loyalty and reward programs, security and fraud detection, cloud-based services and data analysis.  The company said it doesn’t plan to acquire the start-ups who will receive investment money.

“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,” said Dan Schulman, group president, American Express.

American Express said it will focus on technology companies based in North America, but has acknowledged that their search will extend globally over time.

Harshul Sanghi, managing partner at American Express is based in Silicon Valley and is open to receiving proposals from companies.  For now, Sanghi said, American Express will consider word-of-mouth referrals before implementing a formal submission process.