💰 Google and Goldman back Bitcoin startup for small businesses

Serial entrepreneur Marwan Forzely, who sold his previous company to Western Union to help the money-transfer giant directly connect to customer bank accounts, has raised $25 million from Goldman Sachs, GV, Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Trend Forward Capital, and Pantera Capital to cut intermediary banks out of the payment process altogether. Instead of relying on a series of correspondents to move money between different jurisdictions around the world, Marwan’s latest venture, Veem, uses Bitcoin ($BTC) to directly connect its clients’ bank accounts with suppliers and customers.