This UK Payments Startup Just Raised $25M—Here's What It Means for Europe

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-17

Manchester-based payments company Ryft just closed a $25 million Series B round. That's about £20 million in local currency, and it signals something bigger than one company's good fortune. ### The Deal That Turned Heads The round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital chipping in again. This comes on the heels of Ryft's $7.2 million Series A back in April 2025. So what's driving the confidence? Ryft's CEO and co-founder, Sadra Hosseini, put it plainly: "This round of investment means we can take what we've built in the UK into new European markets and compete on the global stage. Payments have been dominated by a small number of incumbents for a long time. We want to provide a powerful and efficient alternative to businesses, not just in Europe, but globally." That's a bold claim. But the numbers suggest he might be onto something. ### Why This Matters Beyond the Headlines Ryft isn't just another payments processor. Founded in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby, and Sadra Hosseini, the company builds payment solutions specifically for marketplaces, platforms, and multi-location businesses. Think seller onboarding, recurring billing, automated split payments, and cross-border payouts—all through a single integration. Since launch, they've partnered with heavyweights like Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Nuvei. And according to the company, they've tripled their processing volume over the past 12 months. More than 6,500 businesses now use their system, including names like Epos Now, Chaiwalla, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip, and Sprive. > "Modern commerce runs on platforms, from marketplaces and franchises, to creators, and, in time, AI agents, but the payments foundation beneath it was built for a two-party world that no longer exists." — Rohit Mathur, Partner at Gresham House Ventures That quote gets to the heart of it. The payments infrastructure most of us rely on was designed for a simpler era. Ryft is betting that the future belongs to multi-party transactions—and they want to own those rails. ### The Bigger Picture: A European Payments Boom Ryft's raise isn't happening in a vacuum. European payments infrastructure is having a moment. This year alone, we've seen: - $94 million for London-based Primer - $91 million for British payments company Sokin - $40 million for Amsterdam's Silverflow - $13 million for Klearly - Earlier-stage rounds for SolvaPay, Ralio, and paymove That's roughly $245 million flowing into the space. The UK, in particular, is punching above its weight—Primer, Sokin, and Ralio are all based there, just like Ryft. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby weighed in: "Ryft's success is a vote of confidence in Manchester's thriving FinTech sector and shows how British businesses can start, scale and compete on the global stage. This Government is backing the industries and companies like Ryft that are creating jobs, attracting investment and driving good growth in every postcode." ### What's Next for Ryft The new funding will support Ryft's expansion across Europe and the US, while accelerating product development and a move upmarket. As part of its European push, the company has applied for a full EU license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). That would let them passport services across the European Economic Area. It's a smart play. The payments space is crowded, but Ryft's focus on complex, multi-party transactions gives them a niche that's only growing. As commerce shifts toward instant, platform-driven, and increasingly agent-initiated payments, owning the infrastructure becomes a question of economic sovereignty—not just merchant cost savings. For now, Ryft is one to watch. And if their growth trajectory continues, we might be talking about them as a European payments champion sooner rather than later.