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Manchester-based payments infrastructure firm Ryft raises £20M in what it describes as the UK's largest payments Series B of the year, as it targets a EU licence and US market entry.
- Gresham House Ventures led the round, with Pembroke VCT, Ingenii Capital, and NPIF II-backed PXN Ventures also participating.
- Ryft tripled its processing volume over the past 12 months and now counts 6,500+ businesses as customers.
- The company has applied for a full EU licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority to passport services across the EEA.
Lead
Ryft, the Manchester-based payments infrastructure startup, closed a £20 million Series B on September 17, 2026, led by Gresham House Ventures. The round also drew existing backers Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital, alongside new entrant PXN Ventures, which invested through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. Valuation was not disclosed. The company intends to use the capital to hire across commercial and technical teams, accelerate product development, and fund its first formal push into the US and continental Europe.
What Does Ryft Actually Do?
Ryft builds payment infrastructure for marketplaces, platforms, and multi-site operators - businesses that need to manage money flows across multiple merchants or locations rather than just process a single checkout. Its core product handles seller onboarding, split payments, recurring billing, and cross-border payouts. Clients include Epos Now, the point-of-sale software provider, Sprive, a mortgage overpayment app, and the Disasters Emergency Committee. Founded in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby, and Sadra Hosseini, the company has grown to serve more than 6,500 businesses and says it tripled processing volume in the 12 months prior to the raise.
The payments-for-platforms niche is not empty. Stripe Connect and Adyen for Platforms both target the same use case, and both carry far greater name recognition. Ryft's answer, at least implicitly, is that large incumbents are slow and expensive for mid-market operators who do not generate the volumes needed to negotiate bespoke terms.
Why Does the Malta Licence Matter?
Post-Brexit, UK payment firms lost their automatic right to operate across the European Economic Area. Ryft has applied for a full licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority, which, once granted, would allow it to passport regulated services into all 30 EEA countries under a single authorisation. Malta is a common choice for this structure - its Financial Services Authority has handled numerous fintech licences, and the passporting mechanics are well established. The practical effect, assuming approval, is that Ryft could sign European enterprise clients without requiring separate country-by-country regulatory cover. No timeline for approval was given.
Funding Context: A Lean Year for UK Fintech
The £20M raise lands during one of the quieter stretches for UK fintech investment. Total UK fintech funding in the first half of 2026 fell to £1.8 billion, the lowest half-year figure in a decade, as rising interest rates compressed valuations and limited partners grew more cautious about deploying into growth-stage technology. Against that backdrop, a £20M payments round is notable in relative terms, even if the absolute figure would have been unremarkable in 2021 or 2022.
Ryft's total funding now stands at approximately £27.4 million, following a £1.2 million seed in 2022 and a £5.7 million Series A led by EdenBase in April 2025. The jump from £5.7M to £20M in under 18 months implies the Series B was priced on materially stronger metrics - that processing volume growth figure of three-times is likely the number investors anchored on. Whether the valuation reflects a meaningful step up from the Series A is undisclosed.
What Comes Next for Ryft's US Ambitions?
The US payments market is the most competitive in the world. Stripe, Braintree, Checkout.com, and a range of vertical-specific incumbents all occupy the platform payments space. Ryft has not yet named a US launch timeline, target city, or regulatory pathway - US payments regulation operates at both federal and state level, with money transmitter licences required in most states. The capital will help fund the groundwork, but the US represents a longer-dated bet than the nearer-term European licensing story.
Outlook
Ryft's Series B is primarily a European expansion story with a US optionality layer. The Malta licence application is the most concrete near-term milestone; approval would give the company a credible sales motion with EU-based platforms. The US announcement, without specifics on regulatory or commercial readiness, is better read as a signal to future investors than an operational commitment. The company has built measurable volume growth on a relatively thin capital base - around £7M raised before this round - which suggests the unit economics are workable. Execution risk now shifts to whether it can hold customer acquisition costs in check as it moves into markets where it has no brand presence.
