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Shieldpay develops a cloud-based financial platform designed to simplify and secure complex payments. The company provides a technology-optimized solution that facilitates verified transactions, holding funds securely in escrow until all parties agree to their release. This robust system ensures transparency and mitigates risk for high-value or conditional payments by verifying identities and ensuring conditions are met before settlement.
The company was founded in 2016 by Peter Janes and Jerome Gudgeon. Their initial insight stemmed from identifying a significant need to reduce inherent risks and complexities within transactional payments, particularly in situations where trust between parties is critical. They aimed to create a neutral and secure environment that could guarantee payment outcomes for all participants.
Primarily serving the legal and professional services industries, Shieldpay’s platform is utilized by firms handling client funds and complex financial transfers. The company’s vision is to become the trusted standard for secure, auditable, and efficient payment processing, continuing to evolve its platform to meet the growing demands for security and compliance in a global digital economy.
Shieldpay has raised $13.1M across 3 funding rounds.
Shieldpay has raised $13.1M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Shieldpay has raised $13.1M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Shieldpay's investors include Giant Ventures, Chris Dixon, Bank of America, Coinbase Ventures, Factor Capital, Vijay Pravin Maharajan, Peter Liebert, Rob Behnke, Alchemy, Eterna Capital, Kraken Ventures, MoonPay.
Shieldpay has raised $13.1M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $5.0M Seed in September 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22, 2025 | $5M Seed | Giant Ventures | Chris Dixon, Bank OF America, Coinbase Ventures, Factor Capital | Announced |
| Apr 23, 2023 | $2.1M Pre Seed | — | Vijay Pravin Maharajan, Peter Liebert, ROB Behnke, Alchemy, Eterna Capital, Kraken Ventures, MoonPay | Announced |
| May 1, 2017 | $6M Seed | — | 9Yards Capital, Anthemis Group, Outrun Ventures, PROfounders Capital | Announced |
Shieldpay is a fintech company founded in 2016 that builds a cloud-based digital payments platform specializing in secure escrow, verification, and disbursement for complex, high-value transactions in the legal services sector[1][2][5][7]. It serves law firms, professional services, and related industries handling mergers and acquisitions (M&A), litigation, real estate, class actions, and supply chain deals, solving pain points like manual processes, compliance risks, cybercrime, and slow fund handling by offering Verify (KYC/due diligence), Hold (safeguarded escrow), and Disburse (conditional payouts) capabilities[2][3][4][5][6]. With over £8 billion processed and partnerships with top 100 law firms, Shieldpay demonstrates strong growth momentum as a regulated payment institution under the UK's Financial Conduct Authority, enabling scalable, API-integrated solutions for global payments[2][4][5].
Shieldpay was founded in 2016 by Peter Janes, its CEO, who identified the need to mitigate risks in high-value, time-sensitive transactions plagued by manual, inefficient processes in legal and professional services[3][6][7]. Janes, drawing from insights into administrative burdens and fraud vulnerabilities for law firms handling client funds, created the concept of digital escrow to simplify and secure these flows[3][7]. Early traction came from addressing regulatory compliance (e.g., SRA, CLC, PSR 2017) and banking partnerships for fund safeguarding, evolving from a UK-based solution in Altrincham to a global platform now processing billions with API expansions and innovations like the world's first fully digital mortgage completion[1][2][3][5].
Shieldpay rides the fintech wave of real-time payments and digital transformation in legaltech, where rising transaction volumes, cyber threats, and regulatory demands (e.g., anti-money laundering) demand secure alternatives to traditional client accounts[2][3][6]. Timing aligns with open banking adoption, AI verification tools, and post-pandemic shifts to remote, efficient deal-making, amplified by market forces like increasing M&A activity and global supply chain complexities[3][5][6]. It influences the ecosystem by outsourcing compliance burdens for law firms, enabling marketplaces to monetize securely, and pioneering digital escrow for innovations like instant mortgages, fostering trust in high-stakes B2B payments[3][5].
Shieldpay is poised for expansion into broader professional services and international markets, leveraging its £8bn+ processing scale, API enhancements, and regulatory edge to capture more contingent payment flows amid growing demand for automated, fraud-proof fintech[4][5][6]. Trends like AI compliance, embedded finance, and real-time global rails will accelerate its growth, potentially evolving it into a worldwide standard for secure transactions and deepening partnerships with scaling fintechs and law firms. This positions Shieldpay to transform legal payments from risky necessities into seamless advantages, building on its mission to simplify complexity.
