Riva Money, a British global payments firm using blockchain technology to streamline the movement of money, has raised a €2.5 million pre-Seed round to address the persistent pain points of global money transfers.
The round saw participation from VC firm Project A as well as angels from Revolut, Monzo and J.P. Morgan.
Niklas Hoejman, Co-founder and CEO of Riva Money, said: “Our mission is simple: to enable businesses’ limitless global money movement, instantly and at a fraction of the cost.
“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.”
Riva was founded in 2025 by Niklas Hoejman and Mahendra Katoch, two FinTech professionals with expertise in cross-border payments, who worked at Revolut and Wise, as well as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Even while working for payment innovators, the Founders detail how they saw legacy systems still causing delays, inflated costs, and offered limited transparency, often making the client experience frustrating and opaque.
As expats and regular users of international payment services, they also felt these limitations personally, convincing them to build a better way to move money globally.
Cross-border payments can still take as long as five days to reach recipients, as transfers are routed through a range of banks and financial institutions. Riva’s mission is to address the high costs and slow settlement times associated with cross-border transfers and build the next generation of payment services for businesses.
In this way, Riva also creates an infrastructure that overcomes the often unfavourable exchange rates offered by banks and legacy providers, while introducing modern technology to outdated legacy systems that the company believes have seen little innovation over the last decades.
Riva leverages blockchain technology – with stablecoins as a key application – to power infrastructure for international payments. Depending on what is most effective for the client (location and specific circumstances), transfers will be routed either via blockchain-based rails or through traditional fiat-to-fiat rails.
Malin Posern, Partner and Managing Director at Project A, said: “The way we move money around the world is changing. Niklas and Mahendra’s deep expertise in payments and financial markets positions Riva perfectly to solve the real pain points businesses face with slow, opaque international transfers. By combining traditional payment infrastructure with blockchain technology, they’re building exactly what frustrated finance teams have been waiting for – faster and more transparent global payments.”
Regulators and governments around the world are becoming increasingly favourable to digital assets, with US, European and UK governments bringing forward legislation that will drive stablecoin adoption, while putting in place guardrails to protect users.
Riva sees stablecoin as a more efficient way to transfer value as the global cross-border payments market, valued at €182 billion in 2024, is projected to reach €275 billion by 2030, growing at a 7% CAGR (according to a research study by Grand View Research).
As a first step in its global regulatory expansion, Riva is currently in the process of obtaining authorisation as a payment institution across the UK and the EU, as well as MICA and VASP licences in the EU and Switzerland.
Riva will now use this funding to expand its operations and roll out globally, including Europe, Asia and North America, as well as expand its existing engineering team.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/08/londons-riva-raises-e2-5-million-to-build-blockchain-powered-technology-to-bypass-banks-and-deliver-faster-cheaper-global-money-transfers/
