TrueLayer takes $27m from Italy's CDP Venture Capital
TrueLayer takes $27 million led by Italy's CDP Venture Capital for Pay by Bank. Roughly a quarter of staff are in Italy, and no valuation was published.
TrueLayer's $27 million round is the figure that will travel; the shareholder is the fact that matters. On October 8, 2026 the company said CDP Venture Capital, of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti group, led that investment with a consortium of existing and new investors it did not name. I read the note as infrastructure capital, closer to a rail or a power interconnector than to a priced round. TrueLayer published no price for the equity.
The announcement describes CDP Venture Capital as an asset manager in which CDP Equity holds 70% and Invitalia 30%, running 15 funds with resources of more than €4.9 billion, printed as EUR 4,9 billion. The note says it was set up to make venture capital a cornerstone of Italy's economic development. CDP's own news page carried the same body the same day. Its summary says "Italy's largest venture capital fund"; both bodies say "leading", and neither attaches a ranking.
CDP lists offices at Via S. Marco, 21/A, 20121 Milan and Piazza Giuseppe Verdi, 10, 00198 Rome. Those are the investor's addresses, not a TrueLayer headquarters, and no percentage, instrument or board seat was disclosed. John Reynolds at Tech.eu on October 8 called the lead "an Italian state-backed investor, a first-time investor", which the primary text does not say. Financial IT republished the release with a timestamp of 8:49 a.m. on October 8, 2026.
What TrueLayer says it operates
Francesco Simoneschi and Luca Martinetti started TrueLayer in London in 2016. The firm says it is live in 22 countries and names Ryanair and Just Eat as clients, without quoting them or giving their volumes. Pay by Bank lets a customer pay from a bank account on European open banking infrastructure rather than through US card networks, and TrueLayer puts that network at more than 30 million European consumers. With 70 people in Italy, roughly a quarter of the workforce, Milan is one of the core engineering hubs, and the company expects to keep hiring there through 2027.
Who has not answered
I did not find a public comment from Visa, Mastercard or GoCardless in coverage of this round on October 10. A $27 million ticket does not by itself move card-network volume. In July this desk reported that Sage and GoCardless put Pay by Bank on UK small-business invoices, with no shareholder from the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti group. On October 4 it recorded Wero joining Bancomat and Bizum in a Madrid payments hub, Bancomat being Italy's domestic debit scheme in an alliance beside this venture holding.
The quotes, and the gap they leave
We started TrueLayer with a simple belief: Europe deserves payment infrastructure built in Europe. Having Italy back that belief means a great deal to us personally, especially to our talented team in Milan, who work hard every day to build the future of European payments.
Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder and chief executive at TrueLayer, said that in the October 8 announcement. Mario Branciforti, head of the Large Venture fund of CDP Venture Capital, said in the same text:
Europe needs payment infrastructure it owns and controls, and we are investing across the continent to help build it. TrueLayer is a clear example of what that looks like in practice, with a network already operating at scale in 22 countries. Our role is to back Italian talent, and the engineering team in Milan is developing the skills and the technology that will keep Italy at the centre of European payments for years to come.
Neither statement names the other investors, a valuation or revenue. In July this desk reported that TrueLayer had added credit to Pay by Bank with in3, and this note does not reopen that product. TrueLayer states that TrueLayer Ltd is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 and the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, firm reference number 901096. The funding text does not say that permission changed, or whether the undisclosed stake would make CDP a controller.
What 2027 actually commits
The release was timed for the day before Simoneschi was due on stage at Wave by Vento in Turin on Friday, October 9, 2026. It does not report the remarks or a new Italian bank connection. The only dated operating promise is hiring in Milan through 2027. In September this desk reported that the UK Payments Delivery Company is seeking £50 million, with a blueprint due in 2027.
CDP says its role is Italian talent and the Milan team, so the test through 2027 is hiring and what that hub ships, not a 23rd country. TrueLayer is already live in 22. The unnamed consortium, and any checkout share at Ryanair or Just Eat, are what the October 8 note still does not show.
Reporting by Rick Steves. Filed 10 October 2026, 09:34 GMT.
Senior Reporter, Regulation and Fintech
Rick Steves has seen business and economics through many lenses. He joined the financial services industry in 2009, and has been a financial journalist since 2011.
