Manchester payments firm Ryft has closed a £20 million Series B round to take its multi-party payment infrastructure beyond Britain and into continental Europe and the United States.
The raise was led by Gresham House Ventures, with follow-on support from existing backers Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital. Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II also joined.
Several reports describe the deal as the largest Series B completed by a UK payments company in 2026.
Valuation was not disclosed.Ryft, founded in 2021 by Sadra Hosseini, Alex Mackenzie and Richard Kirby, builds software for marketplaces, platforms and multi-site operators.
Its tools handle seller onboarding, automated payment splits, recurring billing and cross-border payouts through a single integration.
The company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority and works with networks including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Global Payments.
Management said transaction volumes have tripled over the past year.
More than 6,500 businesses now use the platform, among them Epos Now, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Daytrip, Sprive and Chaiwalla.
The new capital is earmarked for geographic expansion, faster product development and a shift toward larger enterprise clients.
To support European growth, Ryft has applied to the Malta Financial Services Authority for a full EU payments licence.
Approval would let the firm passport its services across the European Economic Area.
Chief executive Hosseini said the investment allows the company to export what it has already built in the UK and compete internationally.
He argued that payments have long been controlled by a small group of incumbents and that Ryft aims to offer a stronger alternative for businesses in Europe and further afield.
Gresham House partner Rohit Mathur said modern commerce now runs on platforms—marketplaces, franchises, creators and, eventually, AI agents—while much of the underlying payment plumbing was designed for simple two-party transactions.
He described Ryft as a UK-built, FCA-regulated business constructed from the start for multi-party flows, noting that its strongest customers are growing volumes by more than 100 percent a year on the platform.
Treasury economic secretary Lucy Rigby called the fundraising a vote of confidence in Manchester’s fintech cluster and evidence that British companies can start, scale and compete globally.
The timing stands out against a weaker UK fintech funding market. Industry data show investment in the sector fell sharply in the first half of 2026.
Ryft’s ability to close a sizeable round in that environment reflects both its recent volume growth and investor interest in domestic payments infrastructure.
The company has not set a public timetable for license approval or first launches in new markets.
If the Maltese authorisation is granted, Ryft would be positioned to serve platform businesses across the EEA without establishing a separate licensed entity in each country. Combined with planned US activity, the Series B gives the Manchester firm a clearer path from a UK specialist to a broader international payments provider.
