Startups
Manchester-based payments firm Ryft has raised €23 million in a Series B round led by Gresham House Ventures, with existing backers Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital participating. The raise follows a €6.6 million Series A in April 2025 and comes as British and European payments infrastructure continues to attract significant capital. Ryft’s CEO and co-founder, Sadra Hosseini, said the funding will allow the company to bring its UK-built platform into new European markets and compete globally. He noted that payments have long been controlled by a handful of incumbents, and Ryft aims to offer businesses a more powerful, efficient alternative. The round reflects sustained momentum in European payments. In 2026, EU-Startups has tracked roughly €224.8 million in relevant rounds, including €86.2 million for London-based Primer, €83 million for British payments company Sokin, €37 million for Amsterdam’s Silverflow and €12 million for Klearly, plus earlier-stage raises for SolvaPay, Ralio and paymove. The UK has produced several of the larger deals, with Primer, Sokin and Ralio all based there. Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby described Ryft’s success as a vote of confidence in Manchester’s FinTech sector and evidence that British businesses can start, scale and compete globally. She added that the government is backing companies like Ryft that create jobs, attract investment and drive growth across the country. Founded in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby and Sadra Hosseini, Ryft builds payment solutions for marketplaces, platforms and multi-location businesses. Its single integration supports seller onboarding and complex transaction flows, including recurring billing, automated split payments and cross-border payouts. The company has partnered with Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Nuvei.
Ryft says it has tripled processing volume over the past year, with more than 6,500 businesses using its system, including Epos Now, Chaiwalla, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip and Sprive. The new capital will support expansion across Europe and the US, accelerate product development and help Ryft move upmarket. As part of its European push, Ryft has applied for a full EU license from the Malta Financial Services Authority, which would let it passport its services across the European Economic Area. Rohit Mathur, Partner at Gresham House Ventures, said modern commerce runs on platforms but the payments foundation beneath it was built for a two-party world that no longer exists. He called Ryft a rare UK-built, FCA-regulated FinTech designed from the ground up for multi-party payments, with top customers compounding volumes over 100% annually. Mathur framed ownership of payment infrastructure as a matter of national economic sovereignty, not just merchant cost, and said the UK needs domestic champions with architecture for the next era of commerce.