Ryft raises GBP £20m in Manchester-led funding round

Ryft has raised £20 million in a Series B funding round, which it described as the largest UK payments Series B this year.

Manchester-based Gresham House Ventures led the round, with existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital also participating.

The funding comes during a weaker period for UK fintech investment. Ryft said UK fintech investment fell to £1.8 billion in the first half of the year, the lowest level in a decade.

The new funding will support expansion across Europe and the US. As part of its European plans, Ryft has applied for a full EU licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority, which would allow it to offer services across the European Economic Area.

Founded in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby and Sadra Hosseini, Ryft sells payment systems to marketplaces, platforms and multi-location businesses. Its system supports seller onboarding and transaction flows, including recurring billing, split payments and cross-border payouts.

More than 6,500 businesses now use the platform, according to Ryft. Named customers include Epos Now, Chaiiwala, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip and Sprive.

Ryft also said it has tripled in size over the past 12 months, while processing volume has tripled over the same period.

The company works with payment groups including Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Nuvei. That partner network gives it access to established card and payment infrastructure as it expands beyond the UK.

Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, linked the fundraising to the wider regional technology sector.

"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 industries and companies like Ryft that are creating jobs, attracting investment and driving good growth in every postcode," said Lucy Rigby, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, UK Government.

Investor backing

The round gives Gresham House Ventures a stake in one of a relatively small group of UK fintechs still attracting growth capital at scale. Investors have become more selective across the sector as higher interest rates and slower deal activity have weighed on fundraising.

Ryft focuses on payment flows involving more than one party, an area that has grown in importance as digital marketplaces, franchise models and platform businesses expand. These transactions can require funds to be split between merchants, suppliers or other recipients, often across borders and under regulatory controls.

"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," said Sadra Hosseini, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Ryft.

Gresham House Ventures said its investment thesis centred on structural changes in commerce and the need for payment systems designed for multi-party transactions.

"Modern commerce runs on platforms, from marketplaces and franchises, to creators, and, in time, AI agents, but the payments foundation beneath it was built for a two-party world that no longer exists. Ryft is the rare UK-built, FCA-regulated fintech designed for multi-party payments from the ground up, and its best customers are compounding volumes over 100% a year on the platform. 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!" said Rohit Mathur, Partner, Gresham House Ventures.

Repeat investor

Pembroke Investment Managers, which also invested in the round, said Ryft had delivered on early growth expectations and built around a technically demanding part of the payments market.

"Splitting a payment cleanly between multiple parties is slow, technical, heavily regulated work, which is precisely why the incumbents left it half-served for a decade, and precisely why it was worth building properly. We first met Sadra in 2024 and Ryft has since done everything he said it would in that first meeting. Plenty of founders can grow quickly for a year, but not many are deliberately building a team and a culture that will still be compounding in five. This is the third time we have backed Ryft, and our largest investment in the company to date," said Fred Ursell, Head of Investments, Pembroke Investment Managers.