Ralio, a fintech startup, has raised €2.1 million ($2.5 million) in a pre-seed funding round to build a payments platform designed for AI-driven transactions.
The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Seed X, Love Ventures, Plug and Play, rule30, Adeline Arts and Science, Endurance Ventures, Campus Fund, fintech investor Alan Morgan, and continued backing from Antler. The funding will support product development and team expansion as the company builds infrastructure for autonomous financial activity.
What The Company Does
Founded in 2025 by Ghali Bennani Laafiret and Leonardo Rosales, Ralio is developing a payments platform designed specifically for AI agents. Its core objective is to bridge the gap between traditional financial systems and the emerging needs of autonomous software capable of executing transactions.
The platform operates as a control layer that verifies transaction intent, enforces predefined rules, and records all activity through audit trails before execution. It integrates with multiple payment methods, including bank transfers, cards, and stablecoins, allowing AI agents to carry out financial operations within a controlled and secure environment.
By embedding identity verification and guardrails directly into the payment flow, Ralio aims to ensure that AI-driven transactions remain compliant, traceable, and aligned with enterprise-level requirements.
Advertisement
Market Context / Industry Background
As AI systems evolve from productivity tools into autonomous agents, their ability to manage financial transactions is becoming increasingly relevant. However, existing payment infrastructure is largely designed for human users, creating limitations for automation at scale.
This shift is driving demand for new layers of financial infrastructure that can support machine-to-machine transactions while maintaining security, compliance, and accountability. The concept of “agentic finance” is gaining traction, particularly as businesses explore ways to automate procurement, payments, and financial operations.
Ralio is positioning itself within this emerging segment, addressing a structural gap between legacy financial systems and the operational needs of AI-driven economic activity.
Founder / Investor Commentary
Ghali Bennani Laafiret, CEO of Ralio, noted that AI agents are increasingly capable of acting as independent economic participants, but current financial systems are not designed to support this shift. He explained that the company is focused on creating a framework that ensures accountability and control as AI begins to transact autonomously.
Adam French, Partner at Antler, highlighted the broader significance of enabling secure value transfer for AI systems. He pointed to the importance of bridging traditional financial infrastructure with new forms of automation, describing Ralio’s approach as addressing a key challenge in the next phase of AI adoption.
Growth Plans / Use Of Funds
The €2.1 million funding will be used to accelerate product development and expand Ralio’s engineering team. The company aims to refine its platform’s core capabilities, including transaction verification, compliance mechanisms, and integration with existing financial systems.
Following strong early interest, the round was oversubscribed within three months of the company’s founding, indicating investor confidence in the emerging market for AI-native financial infrastructure.
About Ralio
Ralio is a fintech startup building a secure payments platform for AI agents. Founded in 2025 and headquartered in London, the company focuses on enabling safe, compliant, and auditable transactions across multiple financial systems, supporting the transition toward autonomous, AI-driven economic activity.
