Outpost, a startup using AI to support the international expansion of merchant trading, has secured a $17.5m (£13m) Series A investment led by Revolut backer Ribbit.
Founded by a former Revolut employee, Outpost was launched to support retailers amid a period of increasingly complex global trading regulation.
From continued Brexit knock-on effects to Donald Trump’s tariff wars, navigating supply chains in the modern day has become a major point of anxiety for businesses.
Outpost claims to have the solution, in the form of a proprietary AI engine designed to simplify international trade.
The system has been trained on millions of pages of trade regulation and monitors tens of thousands of global tax rates to automatically apply the current tax treatment and customs classification for transactions.
It also operates dedicated local entities across various markets to give merchants access to domestic payment rails, local acquiring and alternative payment methods.
“Merchants are forced to choose between spending millions on consultants and local entity setup, or carrying enormous risk on payments and compliance,” said founder and chief executive Will Mahon-Heap.
“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.”
Joining lead investor Ribbit in backing the Series A round is Better Tomorrow Ventures and angels.
“Cross-border commerce represents a massive, multi-trillion dollar opportunity that has been historically held back by fragmented infrastructure,” said Ribbit general partner Nick Shalek.
“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.”
