Betting on the Future of Payments: Handwave snatches $4.2M round

A few years ago, paying with a simple wave of the hand sounded like something out of science fiction. Today, it’s becoming a reality and a new European player is pushing this vision further than ever before.

Handwave, a Latvian fintech startup, is building palm-recognition technology for payments and identity verification. No cards. No apps. No PIN codes. Just a hand. While global giants have experimented with biometric payments, Handwave is proving that the Baltics can develop technology with the same ambition and bring it to the global stage.

Why it matters

Retailers today face two conflicting pressures: reduce costs and deliver smoother customer experiences. Payments often sit at the heart of both. Handwave’s solution promises a faster, cheaper, and more secure checkout process, one that doesn’t rely on plastic cards or mobile devices. For customers, that means convenience. For merchants, it means efficiency and lower transaction costs.

The founders, Jānis Stirna and Sandis Osmanis-Usmanis, are no strangers to the payments industry. Their background at Worldline, one of the world’s largest payment providers, gives them a clear view of how this technology can scale. In just three years, they’ve developed both the hardware and software in-house, a move that not only reduces costs but also strengthens control over the full payment stack.

Why Outlast invested

At Outlast, we back founders who are building companies designed to endure. Payments are not about hype; they’re about trust, scale, and resilience. Handwave’s team combines deep industry expertise with the courage to build an independent European alternative in a space dominated by U.S. and Chinese giants.

The company has already secured key financial partners in Europe, signed an agreement with Visa, and is preparing to roll out pilots across the continent. Starting in the EUm the world’s toughest regulatory environment, isn’t the easy path. But it’s the right one. Compliance built here sets the standard everywhere else.

The bigger picture

For us, Handwave represents more than a novel way to pay. It’s proof that the Baltics can produce world-class fintech that challenges the status quo. It’s a bet on the next generation of payment infrastructure, one that puts independence, security, and user experience at its core.

We’re proud to stand alongside Practica Capital, FirstPick, and Inovo.vc in supporting Handwave’s $4.2 million seed round. This is just the beginning, but the vision is clear: building a global payment platform that outlasts trends and reshapes how we interact with everyday transactions.

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