Outpost raises $17.5m to help merchants sell worldwide

The round was joined by Better Tomorrow Ventures and angel investors, including executives from Revolut, Uber, Affirm, Airwallex, Checkout and others.

While global trade was projected by UNCTAD to surpass $35 trillion in 2025, it is facing rising protectionism, led by US tariffs and a broader rewiring of supply chains and regional trade alliances - creating a more fragmented trading environment.

At the same time, governments are tightening enforcement and updating tax regimes more frequently with more than 20,000 indirect tax jurisdictions worldwide now actively updating rates and compliance requirements, says Outpost.

For merchants, this means the rules for selling into each country are constantly changing. When these changes aren’t applied correctly, payments can fail, goods can be delayed at the border, and unexpected tax bills can erode margins - costing businesses lost revenue.

Outpost promises to help address this through its proprietary AI engine 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.

The firm 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, claims Outpost.

Will Mahon-Heap, CEO Outpost, says: "Brexit, shifting tariffs, and regulatory fragmentation have made cross-border commerce more hostile than at any point in the last two decades. Merchants are forced to choose between spending millions on consultants and local entity setup, or carrying enormous risk on payments and compliance.

“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.”