Ryft secures £20m funding round for payments infrastructure

By Divya Shah

Ryft, a Manchester-based payments infrastructure provider for marketplaces, platforms and multi-location businesses, has secured £20m in Series B funding to accelerate its international growth strategy. 

The funding round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital. The fresh capital will support Ryft’s expansion into Europe and the US, while helping the company advance its product roadmap and strengthen its capabilities for enterprise-scale clients. 

Sadra Hosseini, CEO and co-founder of Ryft, said, “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.” 

As part of its European expansion strategy, Ryft has applied for a full EU licence with the Malta Financial Services Authority, which would enable the company to passport its services across the European Economic Area. 

 Since its launch, Ryft has established partnerships with several major payment’s providers, including Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Nuvei, strengthening its position in the evolving payments ecosystem. 

Rohit Mathur, Partner at Gresham House Ventures, said, “As commerce shifts to instant, multi-party platforms and increasingly agent-initiated payments, ownership of the infrastructure rails becomes a question of national economic sovereignty, not just merchant cost.” 

Mathur further added, “We’re backing Ryft because the UK needs domestic champions with payment architecture for the next era of commerce, and Ryft is one of them. Sadra, Alex, Richard and the wider team are executing at an impressive pace, and we are proud to back this category-defining Manchester FinTech!”