Ryft lands £20m Series B to fund EU and US expansion

Ryft, a UK-based payment services provider headquartered in Manchester, has secured £20 million in Series B funding to accelerate its expansion across Europe and North America. The round was led by Gresham House, an asset manager, with continued backing from existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital. PXN Ventures, investing through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF II), entered as a new backer. This funding round brings Ryft's total capital raised to approximately £27 million since the company's 2021 inception and marks what the firm claims as the largest UK payments Series B of 2026.

The capital will fund two primary strategic objectives: geographic expansion into Europe and the United States, and acceleration of product development targeting higher-growth and enterprise customer segments. A material component of Ryft's European strategy involves securing a full EU payments licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority, which would enable the company to passport payment services across the European Economic Area—a critical regulatory milestone for cross-border payment operations. No post-money valuation was disclosed by the company.

Ryft operates an embedded payments platform designed for marketplaces, platforms, and retailers. Its product suite encompasses card acceptance, recurring billing, automated split payments, seller onboarding, escrow services, and revenue-generating tools for merchants. The platform currently serves over 6,500 businesses, including notable customers such as Epos Now, Chaiwalla, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip, and Sprive. Since founding, Ryft has established partnerships with major payment networks and processors including Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Nuvei. The company recently expanded its capabilities by adding FX conversion and payout functionality across 35+ currencies.

CEO and co-founder Sadra Hosseini framed the investment as enabling Ryft to replicate its UK success on a global stage and position itself as a meaningful alternative to incumbent payment processors. The messaging reflects a broader competitive dynamic in fintech payments, where emerging platforms are challenging the oligopoly held by established processors through specialized embedded payment solutions targeting specific business verticals and use cases.