Ryft Raises £20M as Manchester Payments Fintech Targets Europe and US Expansion
Manchester-based payments fintech Ryft has raised £20 million in a Series B funding round as it prepares to accelerate its expansion across Europe and the United States.
The funding round was led by Gresham House Ventures, with existing investors including Pembroke VCT and Ingenii Capital also participating. The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II, through PXN Ventures, has also backed the company.
Founded in 2021, Ryft provides payment infrastructure for marketplaces, digital platforms and businesses that manage transactions involving multiple parties. Its technology supports functions such as split payments, recurring billing, seller onboarding and payouts through a single platform.
The company was established by Sadra Hosseini, Alex Mackenzie and Richard Kirby, who previously worked together on mobile ordering marketplace Butlr. Their experience led them to identify gaps in existing payment infrastructure for businesses handling complex transactions.
Ryft has grown rapidly over the past year, with its payment processing volumes reportedly tripling. The company now serves more than 6,500 businesses and has built partnerships across the payments industry.
The new funding will be used to expand Ryft’s presence in international markets, with Europe and the US emerging as key priorities. The company is also planning further investment in its technology and product development as it targets larger enterprise customers.
As part of its European expansion plans, Ryft has applied for a full EU payments licence in Malta. If approved, the licence could provide the regulatory framework needed to offer its services across European Economic Area markets.
The company is also looking towards the US, one of the world’s largest payments markets, as it seeks to build an international customer base.
The latest investment follows Ryft’s £5.7 million Series A round in 2025. With fresh capital and growing transaction volumes, the Manchester fintech is now entering a new phase focused on international growth and establishing its payments infrastructure beyond the UK.
Female-led Resolutiion Lands $10.4M to Build AI Operating System for Enterprise Conflict Management
Female-led AI startup Resolutiion has raised $10.4 million in funding to develop an artificial intelligence operating system designed to help enterprises identify and manage commercial conflicts in real time.
The company focuses on an area of business operations that often receives less attention than contract creation. While traditional legal technology typically helps companies draft, review and negotiate agreements, Resolutiion is building technology to monitor what happens after contracts are signed and projects are underway.
Founded by Fayola-Maria Jack, Resolutiion has developed an AI platform designed to analyse information generated during commercial relationships. This can include contracts, emails, invoices, project updates, supplier communications and other operational data.
The system is designed to detect early indicators of potential conflict, allowing companies to address problems before they develop into costly formal disputes. For example, repeated delivery delays, changes in project requirements or unresolved communication issues could signal that a commercial relationship is beginning to deteriorate.
Resolutiion’s platform is aimed at businesses managing complex contracts and large supplier networks, particularly in industries where delays or disagreements can have significant financial consequences.
The company plans to use the new funding to accelerate product development and expand into sectors such as defence, energy and manufacturing. These industries frequently involve complex projects, multiple suppliers and long-term commercial agreements.
Jack has a background in managing complex commercial transactions. Before founding Resolutiion, she worked on major commercial operations within the Royal Air Force and later led the UK government’s Complex Transactions Team. She also established a commercial dispute resolution practice within government.
Resolutiion has assembled a team with experience from technology, consulting and financial services companies. The latest investment provides the startup with additional capital to expand its AI capabilities and customer base.
With businesses increasingly using AI to automate legal and operational processes, Resolutiion is positioning its technology around prevention rather than simply resolving disputes after they occur. The company aims to make continuous monitoring of commercial relationships part of everyday enterprise operations.
Why Oura Chose Wall Street Over Helsinki for Its $16B IPO and What Its Early Backers Think
Finnish smart-ring company Oura is preparing for a potential initial public offering in the United States, with the company reportedly targeting a valuation of around $16 billion. The planned listing on Nasdaq represents a significant milestone for the company, which began as a Finnish wearable technology startup.
Oura’s decision to choose Wall Street rather than Helsinki reflects the company’s increasingly international business and its focus on the US market. Nasdaq offers access to a large pool of technology-focused investors and institutions that are familiar with consumer technology, wearable devices and subscription-based businesses.
Founded in Finland in 2013, Oura has built its business around smart rings that monitor health and wellness metrics such as sleep, heart rate, activity, stress and recovery. The company has also developed a recurring subscription model that provides users with additional health insights and features.
The company has grown significantly since its early years, expanding its customer base and increasing its presence in international markets. Its growth has attracted major investors and helped transform Oura from a niche wearable company into a prominent player in the broader digital health and consumer technology market.
For Oura’s early backers, the proposed IPO could provide an opportunity to realise returns on investments made when the company was still relatively young. At the same time, the public listing would give Oura access to additional capital that could support product development, international expansion and investments in health technology.
The reported $16 billion valuation would also represent a substantial increase compared with the company’s previous private-market valuation.
Oura’s choice of Nasdaq highlights the changing ambitions of Finnish technology companies seeking global scale. Rather than limiting its public-market ambitions to its home country, the company is positioning itself within the much larger US technology investment ecosystem.
The IPO will ultimately test how public investors value Oura’s combination of wearable hardware, health data and recurring subscription revenue as the company enters its next phase of growth.
Ex-Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean Targets $50B Valuation for New AI Startup Discovery Loop
Former Google chief scientist Jeff Dean is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $50 billion for his new artificial intelligence startup, Discovery Loop. The reported target comes shortly after the company was said to be discussing a valuation of around $10 billion, highlighting the strong investor interest surrounding ambitious AI ventures.
Dean left Google after nearly three decades at the company to launch Discovery Loop alongside former Google researchers Sanjay Ghemawat, Quoc Le and Oriol Vinyals. The founders have played important roles in the development of Google’s computing and artificial intelligence technologies.
Discovery Loop is focused on using AI to accelerate scientific and technological research. The company aims to develop systems that can conduct experiments, analyse results and determine the next steps with limited human intervention. By automating parts of the research process, the startup hopes to reduce the time required to make discoveries.
The company’s ambitions extend across multiple fields, including science, engineering, biology and semiconductor research. Rather than developing another general-purpose AI assistant, Discovery Loop is positioning itself around AI-powered scientific discovery and experimentation.
The startup has already attracted prominent investors, including Radical Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed and Kleiner Perkins. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is also involved as a founding investor and cloud partner.
The potential $50 billion valuation would place Discovery Loop among the world’s most highly valued AI startups despite being at an early stage of development. Such a valuation would largely reflect confidence in its founders, technical expertise and the potential market for AI-driven research.
However, the fundraising remains subject to negotiations, and the final valuation could differ from the reported target. Discovery Loop also faces the challenge of turning its ambitious research vision into scalable technology and commercial applications.
If successful, the startup could become a significant player in the emerging market for AI systems designed to automate scientific research and accelerate technological development.
