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Ryft raises £20M in largest UK payments Series B of the year

Thursday, September 17, 2026 — 16:50:51 (UTC)

RYFT RAISES £20M IN LARGEST UK PAYMENTS SERIES B OF THE YEAR

Economic Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby champions Ryft’s success

The Series B was led by Gresham House Ventures, with participation from existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital

Ryft has tripled in size over the past 12 months, with more than 6,500 businesses now using its payment system

The investment will support Ryft’s expansion across Europe and the US, while accelerating its adoption by high-growth and enterprise organisations

Sept. 17, 2026—Manchester-based payments company Ryft has secured a £20 million Series B to support the next stage of its international growth.

The £20 million Series B, led by Gresham House Ventures, follows a period of rapid growth for Ryft. The business tripled its processing volume over the past 12 months and more than 6,500 businesses, including Epos Now, Chaiwalla, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip and Sprive are now using its payment system. The investment will support Ryft’s expansion across Europe and the US, while accelerating its product development and move upmarket.

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."

As part of its European expansion, Ryft has applied for a full EU license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). With this, Ryft will be able to passport its services across the European Economic Area.

The round also featured participation from existing investors Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital. It comes amid growing focus on the UK’s ability to build homegrown technology companies capable of becoming global leaders, and a broader push from European policymakers to strengthen the region’s sovereign payments infrastructure.

Speaking on the raise, Ryft’s CEO and co-founder, Sadra Hosseini commented: “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.”

Founded in 2021 by Alex Mackenzie, Richard Kirby and Sadra Hosseini, Ryft builds payment solutions for marketplaces, platforms and multi-location businesses, helping them manage seller onboarding and complex transaction flows, including recurring billing, automated split payments and cross-border payouts, through a single integration. This enables rapid growth and incredible efficiency while giving merchants the ability to generate additional revenue from the transactions being processed.

Since launch, Ryft has gone on to partner with leading payment companies including Global Payments, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Nuvei. The company is an established part of Manchester’s growing fintech ecosystem, the development of which was championed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham during his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester.

Rohit Mathur, Partner at Gresham House Ventures, which led the round, commented: “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!”

Fred Ursell, Head of Investments at Pembroke Investment Managers, commented: "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." For more information about Ryft, please visit: www.ryftpay.com/

Editor’s Notes

About Gresham House Ventures

Gresham House Ventures is a growth capital investor which is part of Gresham House, a £12.7bn+ AUM specialist alternative asset management group. Gresham House Ventures works with exceptional entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level. Gresham House Ventures provides primary and secondary capital to fast-growing, innovative technology businesses across a diversified range of sectors, including Fintech, Enterprise, Consumer, HealthTech and DeepTech. The team has been working together for over 10 years and has a strong track record with over 100 investments. Gresham House is focused on delivering financial returns for clients by investing in global themes shaping our future. Gresham House invests across a range of strategies, with expertise in private markets, public equity, forestry and natural capital, sustainable infrastructure, real estate, renewable energy and battery energy storage. Gresham House is committed to operating responsibly and sustainably, taking the long view of delivering sustainable investment solutions. The group is headquartered in London with offices across Europe and Asia.

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Source: Company press release.

Categories: Announcement