PayRange, which outfits vending machines to accept cards and digital payments, Thursday announced it has received $12 million in Series A funding led by Matrix Partners to help modernize what the company claimed is a $45 billion vending industry.

PayRange enables vending machines to accept any form of payment, from credit cards to NFC-based mobile payments.

The company claimed in a press release that 98 percent of vending purchases are made with cash because only 5 percent of vending machines accept credit and debit cards. 

PayRange uses a small device that plugs into the back of the machine and a customer-side mobile app to enable any vending machine to accept all forms of payment in less than 30 seconds, according to the announcement. The PayRange device leverages BLE, which enables customers to connect directly to it through the PayRange app available for Android and iOS devices. Customers launch the app, select a payment instrument, and choose a nearby machine. The selected machine will instantly show their balance, and customers can make their purchases.

No personal information is sent to the machine, and credit card numbers are managed securely by a PCI-compliant processor, according to the announcement.

"Nearly half the time someone walks up to a machine with the intent to purchase, he or she leaves empty handed because the buyer simply doesn't have the right change," PayRange Founder and CEO Paresh Patel said in a statement. "This results in billions of dollars in sales lost each year. PayRange solves this problem by offering operators an easy and affordable way to accept any form of payment to capture those lost sales."