London open banking payments company TrueLayer has raised $27m in a round led by CDP Venture Capital, the Italian state-backed investor, which joins the cap table for the first time. The round takes total funding to about $350m; the valuation was not disclosed.
TrueLayer was founded in London in 2016 by two Italians, Francesco Simoneschi and Luca Martinetti. It uses open banking connections to let consumers pay merchants directly from their bank accounts, a method known as account-to-account or pay-by-bank that bypasses the Visa and Mastercard networks.
The company is backed by Stripe and Tiger Global, among others, and has positioned itself as a European alternative to card-based payment infrastructure.
The round
The $27m investment was led by CDP Venture Capital, the venture arm of Italy's state-backed Cassa Depositi e Prestiti group. It is a first-time investor in the company. A consortium of new and existing investors also took part, though TrueLayer did not name them.
The round brings total capital raised to around $350m. The stage was not labelled, and the post-money valuation, the size of CDP's stake and any governance rights attached to it were not disclosed.
For a company that has raised roughly $350m over a decade, a $27m cheque is a modest addition. Its significance lies in who wrote it: a sovereign-backed investor from the founders' home market leading a round in a UK-headquartered fintech.
Use of funds
The money is earmarked for Italy. TrueLayer says about 70 people, roughly a quarter of its workforce, are now based in the country, and that Milan has become one of its core engineering hubs.
That ratio implies a total headcount of about 280. The company expects to keep hiring in Italy through 2027.
Simoneschi, who is chief executive, said the company was started on the belief that Europe should have payment infrastructure built in Europe, and that Italian backing for that idea carried personal weight for the founders and the Milan team.
What it means
State-linked capital taking the lead position adds a new type of holder to a shareholder base best known for Stripe and Tiger Global. It also ties a larger share of the company's engineering base to a jurisdiction outside the UK.
The raise comes as pay-by-bank providers push for volume against entrenched card schemes.
TrueLayer has not said whether the round was priced above or below its previous valuation. Without that figure, the dilution taken by existing shareholders cannot be calculated.
The company's next milestones are Italian hiring through 2027 and evidence that account-to-account volumes can grow in continental markets where card usage remains the default at checkout.
Original source: Tech.eu — https://tech.eu/2026/10/08/truelayer-captures-27m-investment-as-targets-italy-expansion/
