British startup Outpost raises €15 million to build liability-free cross-border commerce platform

London-based Outpost, an AI-powered platform that enables merchants to sell worldwide with “zero liability“, today announced it has raised €15 million ($17.5 million) in Series A funding to accelerate product development, expand jurisdictional coverage, and increase headcount to meet the global demand for liability-free commerce infrastructure.

The round was led by Ribbit and supported by existing investors, including Better Tomorrow Ventures, which previously led a €2.5 million ($3 million) Seed round less than a year ago. Angel investors also include executives from Revolut, Uber, Affirm, Airwallex, Checkout and others.

At the core of the platform is Outpost’s proprietary AI engine – critical infrastructure designed to make international trade as simple as domestic commerce. Trained on millions of pages of trade regulation, the system monitors 20,000+ tax rates, automatically applying the correct tax treatment and customs classification for each transaction.

Outpost also operates dedicated local entities in each market, giving merchants access to domestic payment rails, local acquiring, and alternative payment methods. Because transactions are processed locally rather than cross-border, merchants see 10% higher approval rates and significantly lower processing costs, recovering revenue that most businesses don’t even realise they’re losing.

Outpost automates the hidden effects of shifting regulations so merchants can scale internationally without the complexity that manual processes can no longer manage. The platform says it ensures merchants never have to think about compliance or risk goods being held at borders.

Ivan, Strategy & Payments at Welltech a global mobile app studio says: “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.”

Outpost is already supporting merchants operating across Europe, North America, LATAM and Asia, including subscription platforms, consumer software companies, and cross-border e-commerce brands.

The company offers two core products:

• Merchant of Record: Outpost creates a dedicated local entity for you wherever you want to sell. No pooling with other merchants means optimised merchant codes and higher approval rates.

• Tax of Record: Outpost becomes fully liable for VAT, GST and sales tax worldwide. You don’t have to register, remit, or deal with governments anywhere. Outpost absorbs all audit risk and penalties, and monitors regulatory changes with Outpost AI.

Jess Thorpe, Founder of Swans UK adds: “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.”

For example, a digital marketplace processing €85 million ($100 million)+ annually was leaking 14% of gross revenue to cross-border card declines, FX markups, and local payment method gaps. By routing transactions through Outpost’s dedicated Brazilian entity, the marketplace moved from a cross-border to domestic setup, unlocked Pix for local buyers, removed tax charges, and recovered the lost revenue within months – without establishing its own legal presence in Brazil.

Nihar Bobba, Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures, says: “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.”