Venmo is a smartphone payment application that allows users to easily send and request money from friends through a simple four-click process. It was founded in 2009 and acquired by Braintree for $26.2 million in 2012 and then by PayPal for $800 million in 2013. Venmo processes billions of dollars in payments annually and generates revenue through a 3% fee on merchant transactions. It has been very successful due to its simplicity, network effects among college students, and integration with Facebook.