Outpost, an AI-powered payments and compliance infrastructure platform for cross-border commerce, has raised $17.5 million in Series A funding led by Ribbit. The London and New York-based company said the round also included participation from existing investor Better Tomorrow Ventures, which led the company’s $3 million seed round less than a year earlier, along with angel investors from companies including Revolut, Uber, Affirm, Airwallex, and Checkout.
The funding comes as global trade reached record levels in 2025, with projections indicating it surpassed $35 trillion despite slowing momentum due to geopolitical tensions and rising costs. At the same time, international commerce has become significantly more complex as governments tighten enforcement, tariffs increase, and supply chains and trade alliances shift.
According to Outpost, merchants selling internationally now face growing operational and regulatory challenges. Businesses must navigate more than 20,000 indirect tax jurisdictions worldwide, each frequently updating tax rates and compliance requirements. Incorrect handling of these changes can lead to failed payments, border delays, unexpected tax bills and lost revenue. Companies typically address these challenges by building local entities and compliance infrastructure in each market or by accepting substantial legal and financial risk.
Outpost was designed to remove this burden by acting as the legally liable entity for payments, tax and compliance in global markets. Its proprietary AI engine monitors thousands of tax rates and regulatory updates, automatically applying the correct tax treatment and customs classifications to transactions. The system is trained on millions of pages of trade regulation.
The company also operates dedicated local entities across multiple markets, enabling merchants to process payments through domestic payment rails rather than cross-border transactions. This structure provides access to local acquiring and alternative payment methods while improving payment approval rates and lowering processing costs. Outpost said merchants typically see approval rates increase by around 10 percent because transactions are processed locally.
Outpost currently supports merchants operating across Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia, including subscription platforms, consumer software companies and cross-border e-commerce brands.
The company offers two primary products.
- Merchant of Record: Outpost creates a dedicated local entity in each market where a merchant wants to sell, allowing companies to process payments domestically and optimize merchant category codes without pooling transactions with other merchants.
- Tax of Record: Outpost assumes full liability for VAT, GST and sales tax globally. The platform registers, calculates, files and remits taxes on behalf of merchants while absorbing audit risk and monitoring regulatory changes through its AI system.
Several companies are already using the platform to streamline international expansion. A global consumer app generating more than $500 million in annual revenue uses Outpost’s Merchant of Record infrastructure to accept payments in markets where it does not have legal entities, reducing processing fees and increasing payment approvals. A digital marketplace processing more than $100 million annually shifted transactions through Outpost’s Brazilian entity to unlock local payment methods such as Pix and recover revenue lost to cross-border payment declines and foreign exchange costs. A business-to-consumer software company selling subscriptions across 20 countries uses the Tax of Record product to eliminate the need to register and manage tax obligations directly in each market.
Outpost said it will use the new funding to accelerate product development, expand jurisdictional coverage and increase hiring as demand grows for infrastructure that enables merchants to scale internationally while managing regulatory complexity.
KEY QUOTES
“Brexit, shifting tariffs, and regulatory fragmentation have made cross-border commerce more hostile than at any point in the last two decades. Merchants are forced to choose between spending millions on consultants and local entity setup, or carrying enormous risk on payments and compliance. Outpost exists to eliminate that trade-off. We’ve built the only infrastructure that handles everything from local payment processing to full tax liability, allowing companies to treat international expansion with the same ease as selling locally.”
Will Mahon-Heap, CEO And Founder, Outpost
“We take payments in over 100 countries, each with its own VAT, sales tax, and regulatory requirements. Before Outpost, we were managing registrations across dozens of markets manually, it was a constant drain. Will and the Outpost team took that off our plate entirely. Since then we’ve expanded into new markets faster, improved our payment approval rates, and can focus on growth.”
Ivan, Strategy & Payments, Welltech
“After Brexit, selling into Europe went from straightforward to a nightmare. Customers were getting hit with unexpected VAT charges at their door, and we were losing repeat buyers because of it. We plugged Outpost into our Shopify store and it handled everything. VAT registration, calculation, and collection, all automatic at checkout – with Outpost liable for any errors. Our EU customers now see the full price upfront, and our European return rate has dropped significantly. With all the talk of de minimis changes coming in the EU, it’s a relief knowing Outpost will take care of that for us too. It made selling into Europe feel like selling domestically again.”
Jess Thorpe, Founder, Swans UK
“Cross-border commerce represents a massive, multi-trillion dollar opportunity that has been historically held back by fragmented infrastructure. Outpost isn’t just offering a better payment gateway; they’ve introduced a novel model that fundamentally changes how merchants access global markets. By absorbing the operational and compliance burdens that stifle expansion, Outpost is building a category-defining platform for the next era of global trade.”
Nick Shalek, General Partner, Ribbit
“Outpost’s rapid growth is a testament to the world-class team they have assembled and their ability to absolve merchants of operational complexity. While other players are building incremental tools, Outpost has attacked the problem with a full stack model that other providers simply can’t match. We are incredibly excited to continue supporting Outpost as they coordinate the economic, administrative and regulatory rails that redefine global trade.”
Nihar Bobba, Partner, Better Tomorrow Ventures
