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Hong Kong-based PhotonPay raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital, with SBI Group, IDG Capital, GL Ventures and Lightspeed Faction also participating. The company says it will use the capital to develop multi-asset wallets, expand card issuing and local clearing, and build financial infrastructure for AI-initiated commerce.
PhotonPay, a Hong Kong-based payments company, has raised $40 million in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital. The company plans to invest the funding in its multi-asset wallets, global card issuing and local clearing infrastructure, as well as a financial execution layer designed to support AI-initiated commerce.
SBI Group, IDG Capital, GL Ventures and Lightspeed Faction also took part in the round, according to Finextra. The report did not disclose the company’s valuation, the terms of the investment or how much each investor contributed.
PhotonPay describes its product as a financial operating system for businesses. Its API-first platform combines wallets for stablecoins and fiat currencies with cross-border payments, foreign exchange, card issuing, embedded finance and local clearing. The company says it holds 34 payment and financial licences and authorisations across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Finextra reports that PhotonPay has nearly 600 employees and serves more than 200,000 business customers across over 200 countries and territories. The company’s annualised transaction volume reached $65 billion as of August, according to the report. It does not specify the year or give a comparison with an earlier period, so the figure should be read as a reported snapshot rather than a measure of growth.
Funding Targets Global Payment Rails
The investment backs a business model that combines several parts of cross-border finance in one platform: holding funds, exchanging currencies, moving money between markets and enabling card payments. For companies operating internationally, this could reduce the need to connect separate providers for stablecoin and fiat balances, payment processing and local settlement. PhotonPay’s funding plans indicate that it wants to expand those services across markets, though the announcement does not establish how much the new investment will improve speed, cost or availability for customers.
The company is also positioning its infrastructure for transactions initiated by software agents. If businesses adopt AI systems that can act on instructions and carry out payments, those systems will need ways to access accounts and payment networks. PhotonPay’s planned agent-ready financial layer is intended to address that need. The commercial scale and customer demand for such services remain uncertain; a funding plan and a demonstration do not establish widespread use.
Stablecoins are part of the company’s offering, but the reported funding announcement does not say that the platform is exclusively stablecoin-based. PhotonPay also supports fiat currencies and traditional payment capabilities. That distinction matters for businesses evaluating whether the product is a stablecoin service, a broader payments platform, or a combination of both.
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PhotonPay’s Payments Platform
PhotonPay was founded in 2015, according to Finextra. Its platform brings together digital wallets, foreign exchange and payment services, with local clearing and global card issuing intended to connect funds held on the platform with spending and settlement in different markets. The company says its regulatory authorisations cover the Americas, Europe and Asia; the report does not list the individual licences or the specific services permitted under each one.
The company has also begun exploring agentic commerce, a term for transactions initiated or carried out by software agents. In May, PhotonPay worked with Mastercard on a live demonstration using a tokenised PhotonPay card. Finextra describes the demonstration as validating AI-initiated transactions across existing global card networks. That account establishes that a demonstration took place, not that autonomous payments are already a widely available customer product.
PhotonPay Chief Executive Lewison Chen framed the company’s approach as linking digital liquidity with existing payment and settlement systems. The Series C adds capital as the company pursues that combined strategy and explores how AI tools might operate across financial accounts and payment rails.
“Stablecoins are accelerating global money movement, while local clearing and global card issuing connect that liquidity to local settlement and everyday business spending.”
— Lewison Chen, PhotonPay chief executive
Valuation and Rollout Details Pending
The available report does not state PhotonPay’s valuation, the full terms of the Series C, or the amount invested by each participant. It also does not give a timetable for deploying the funding or identify the specific markets where the company plans to expand local clearing and card issuing.
Several operating figures need further detail to allow comparisons. Finextra reports an annualised transaction volume of $65 billion as of August but does not identify the year, calculation method or prior-period baseline. The report also does not specify how many of the stated customer businesses actively use stablecoins, which currencies and blockchains are supported, or how the company’s 34 licences map to its services in individual jurisdictions.
The AI-related work remains at an early stage in the information provided. PhotonPay’s May demonstration with Mastercard shows a test of AI-initiated payments on a card network, but the report does not say whether a commercial product is available, what safeguards govern agent actions, or how customer approval and liability would work.
Expansion Plans and Product Milestones
PhotonPay says it will direct the Series C funding toward upgrading multi-asset wallets, expanding global card issuing, strengthening local clearing in key markets and developing an agent-ready financial execution layer. The company has not announced public milestones, launch dates or named markets for those efforts in the reported material.
Readers can look for further detail from PhotonPay and its investors on product availability, geographic expansion and the safeguards attached to AI-driven transactions. Any future announcements may clarify whether the Mastercard demonstration leads to a customer-facing service and how the company measures the use of stablecoins across its business.
Key Questions
How much did PhotonPay raise?
PhotonPay raised $40 million in a Series C funding round, according to Finextra.
Who led and joined the funding round?
Blockchain Capital led the round. SBI Group, IDG Capital, GL Ventures and Lightspeed Faction also participated.
What does PhotonPay plan to do with the money?
The company says it will improve multi-asset wallets, expand global card issuing, strengthen local clearing infrastructure in key markets and develop a financial execution layer for AI-initiated commerce.
Does the report say PhotonPay has launched AI-driven payments for customers?
No. It reports that PhotonPay and Mastercard conducted a live demonstration in May using a tokenised PhotonPay card. It does not confirm that an AI payment product is commercially available.
What remains undisclosed about the Series C?
The report does not give PhotonPay’s valuation, the investment terms, each investor’s contribution or a deployment timetable. It also does not specify the year of the reported August transaction-volume figure.
Source: finextra.com
