Yoyo, the mobile payment app that launched last year, has managed to secure seed funding for $5m (nearly £3m), in what is considered to be one of the biggest funding deals in Europe so far this year. The firms to have invested in Yoyo include Imperial Innovations, Firestartr and Telefonica. Yoyo, which was founded in 2013 by Alain Falys (formerly of Visa), Dave Nicholson (formerly of Egg) and Michael Rolph (formerly of Barclays, First Data and PayPal), is an accepted form of payment at all 32 food and drink outlets on campus and this news will be a huge boost as the company announces its impending expansion.

The company will soon be rolling out at two other London universities – the University of Greenwich and the University of Westminster – which could potentially add up to 50,000 new students to the service. Imperial Innovations Investment Director Jon Edington said of the news, “We have supported Yoyo since its formation and we’re delighted to see the progress it has made so far at Imperial College London. Yoyo has the potential to address a large international market and we are keen to support its experienced management team through the company’s expansion.” Yoyo, which currently handles 30,000 transactions per month at the College alone, will be intending to use this extra funding to drive their future growth plans, which include cementing its position in the United Kingdom, and moving into other markets, such as Europe and the United States, within the next twelve months.