A London-based startup founded by FinTech veterans from the powerhouses of Revolut, Wise and Goldman Sachs has raised £2.2m to tackle slow and expensive cross-border payments.
Riva Money, a global payments firm using blockchain technology to streamline money transfers, saw the investment round led by Project A, with backing from angels linked to Revolut, Monzo and JP Morgan.
The business is aiming to shake up the legacy infrastructure behind international payments – a system that still takes up to five days to complete a transfer and often comes with hefty fees and exchange rates.
Founded by FinTech professionals Niklas Hoejman and Mahendra Katoch, the company is building a new kind of infrastructure to address issues associated with cross-border transfers.
Riva uses blockchain technology, with stablecoins as a key application, to build its payment infrastructure.
It lets customers choose between using blockchain or traditional payment networks, depending on what works best in each context.
The firm is now pursuing key regulatory licences, including authorisation as a payment institution in the UK and EU, as well as MICA and VASP licences in the EU and Switzerland as it begins scaling its platform worldwide.
With the new funding, Riva will expand its operations globally, including in Europe, Asia and North America.
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It will also use the investment to grow its engineering team to support further development of its payment infrastructure.
“Our mission is simple: to enable businesses’ limitless global money movement, instantly and at a fraction of the cost,” said Niklas Hoejman, co-founder and CEO of Riva Money.
“By combining blockchain technology with a robust regulatory framework, we’re building a solution that offers businesses the speed, transparency and cost-efficiency they need to thrive in today’s interconnected economy.”
Malin Posern, partner and managing director at Project A, added: “With stablecoin adoption accelerating and regulatory frameworks maturing globally, the time is right for an infrastructure rethink.
“Riva’s dual-rail system for businesses elegantly solves for both speed and flexibility in a market that’s still reliant on legacy processes.
“Niklas and Mahendra’s deep expertise in payments and financial markets positions Riva perfectly to build the next generation of payment services.”