Azerbaijani Co-Founder's Startup, Payrails, Secures $14.4 Million Investment

Payrails, a global payment operating system, announced today that it has secured a $14.4 million seed round investment. This funding will expedite the development of its pioneering Financial Operations (FinOps) platform.

This investment round, led by EQT Ventures, welcomed General Catalyst as a new investor and was bolstered by the continued support from existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and HV Capital. This round underlines the investors' faith in Payrails' offering, a product in use by major international enterprises. With this recent funding, the total investment in the startup now stands at $20.8 million.

For any company grappling with multifaceted payment streams across various platforms and marketplaces, payment processing remains a fragmented domain. Many large enterprises and platforms utilize multiple processors to manage payments, often making cross-border transactions quite challenging. Companies need an enterprise-grade operating system capable of managing intricate internal cash flows. Traditionally, the only solution was to establish a costly in-house payments team, a challenge for many rapidly growing businesses.

Addressing this need, the experienced founding team consisting of Orkhan Abdullayev, Emre Talay, and Nicolas Thouzeau established Payrails. The platform is an end-to-end operating system encompassing the entire payment processing value chain.

Payrails is designed to simplify marketplace payments and automate all financial transactions within a single solution, regardless of geographical location or system complexity. The company aims to utilize this new investment to accelerate its product roadmap, enhance market access, and provide solutions to complex payment challenges for its customers.

Orkhan Abdullayev, Payrails CEO and co-founder, remarked, "We are extremely proud of our startup and eager to navigate the journey ahead. The need for improved payment aggregation and the strategic importance of payment optimization is widely recognized by leading companies. They seek flexible solutions that can adapt to their requirements. With EQT Ventures, General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz, and HV Capital, we have found formidable partners with substantial experience in fintech and payment systems."

EQT Ventures' Partner, Kaushik Subramanian, added, "Enterprise clients increasingly require a robust, reliable payment product that can handle intricate cash flows. The Payrails team, with their proven track record, is ideally positioned to tackle this challenge."

General Catalyst Partner, Zeynep Yavuz, highlighted the global expansion of digital markets and how Payrails offers a comprehensive platform that covers the entire payment value chain.

Established in 2021 by Orkhan Abdullayev, Emre Talay, and Nicolas Thouzeau, Payrails is a rapid payment infrastructure that enables high-growth businesses to accept payments globally and automate financial transactions on a single platform. Headquartered in Berlin with a team of 30, Payrails has secured a total of $20.8 million in investment from some of the world's most prominent investors.