Facebook invited Braintree as its sole payments provider powering the FbStart program. PayPal acquired Braintree last fall – it helps third-party companies including Fab and Uber add mobile payment capabilities to their services.
Established companies in Silicon Valley encourage startups to integrate with their services. Facebook’s FbStart program provides developers with free tools and services from Facebook and other companies to help startups take off. The Facebook program initially launched in April with 11 partnering companies, and with the addition this week of Braintree, Appmethod, and Get Satisfaction, there are now 17 companies that offer free tools and services to FbStart members.
So far FbStart has accepted over 500 startups from 63 different countries, with over half of them from outside the United States.
PayPal explained the partnership brings its own program for startups called Ignition, which waives the fees on the first $50,000 in payments, to mobile app developers in FbStart, calling it “a program that fuels innovation by providing startups with best of breed tools and services to build and grow their apps.”
PayPal said FbStart was the second partnership between Braintree and Facebook. “Last October, before the acquisition closed, Braintree began powering Facebook’s Autofill product. We’re looking forward to working with Facebook to do our part to support app developers, give back to the startup ecosystem, and help ignite mobile innovation.”
