Ryft, a Manchester-based payments company that builds infrastructure for marketplaces, platforms and multi-location businesses, has closed a £20m Series B funding round to support its next stage of international growth.
The round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with additional backing from existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital. The fresh capital will be used to fund Ryft’s expansion into Europe and the US, while also accelerating its product roadmap and its push into serving larger, enterprise-scale clients.
The raise follows a period of rapid growth for the company. Ryft has tripled its transaction processing volume over the last year, and its platform is now relied upon by more than 6,500 businesses, including Epos Now, Chaiwalla, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip and Sprive. As part of its European growth plans, Ryft has submitted an application for a full EU licence with the Malta Financial Services Authority, a move that would allow it to passport its services throughout the European Economic Area.
Since it was established in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby and Sadra Hosseini, Ryft has focused on building payment infrastructure for marketplaces, platforms and businesses operating across multiple locations. Its technology helps these organisations manage seller onboarding and handle intricate transaction flows, such as recurring billing, automated split payments and cross-border payouts, all through a single integration, an approach designed to help merchants scale quickly while also opening new revenue opportunities from the payments they process.
The company has built partnerships with several major payment providers since launching, among them Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Nuvei.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby said, “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.”
Ryft CEO and co-founder Sadra Hosseini 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.”
Gresham House Ventures Partner Rohit Mathur 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. 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!”
Copyright © 2026 FinTech Global
