What happened: UK-based Ryft raised £5.7m for its Embedded Payments product offering. The company targets marketplaces and platforms with payment acceptance, split payments, and payment-related monetisation opportunities (PYMNTS).
My comment: Embedded payment is the entry door into embedded finance for many companies, especially marketplaces and vertical SaaS companies. We have seen this in the US with Shopify and Toast and in Europe with Mews. Many of these early movers have built their payment infrastructure on top of Adyen or Stripe. But we are now seeing more specialist payment providers that exclusively target companies where payment processing happens for their own customers (e.g., marketplaces, platforms, vertical SaaS).
Even though Stripe and Adyen also strongly focus on platform providers, there is clearly a demand for more providers. And that’s not only in Europe but also in the US, where Rainforest raised $20 million in June 2024 with exactly that offering and customer focus. And Ryft is not the only provider in Europe, as Rootline from the Netherlands seems quite similar. Also, I remember that Getpaid started with an Embedded Payments focus for platforms, but it seems they have pivoted. But I would not be surprised if there are more such companies. If you know any, please let me know.
