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§ Private Profile · Cork, Ireland
Trustap is a technology company.
Trustap provides a secure digital transaction platform designed to mitigate fraud risks for individuals and businesses engaging with unknown parties online. The company integrates payment processing with a comprehensive transaction management system, functioning as a trusted intermediary. It adapts the traditional escrow model by incorporating milestones, ensuring funds are released only upon confirmed delivery or service completion, thereby securing exchanges on various online marketplaces and e-commerce platforms.
Conor Lyden founded Trustap in 2017, conceiving the idea while still in university. His initial insight stemmed from the pervasive issue of online transaction fraud when dealing with untrusted individuals. The company’s early development was an iterative process, supported by local grants and competition winnings, which allowed Lyden to assemble a small team and secure initial investments to build out the platform.
The platform primarily serves users on marketplaces who seek a safer way to conduct transactions, ranging from consumer goods to business-to-business manufacturing. Trustap’s strategy focuses on partnering with existing marketplaces to embed its secure payment and transaction management solutions, enabling these platforms to offer enhanced safety to their users. The company envisions expanding its global footprint, particularly into emerging markets in Africa and South America, to provide secure transaction capabilities where they are most needed.
Trustap has raised $9.7M across 3 funding rounds.
Trustap has raised $9.7M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Trustap is a fintech company building a secure digital transaction platform that provides escrow-style payments for online and in-person marketplaces, protecting buyers and sellers from fraud by holding funds until transaction milestones are met.[1][2][3][4] It serves marketplaces, ecommerce stores, and individuals engaging in peer-to-peer transactions with strangers, solving the core problem of trust in high-risk deals like ticket resales or private sales through features like payment holding, shipment tracking, dispute resolution, KYC/AML compliance, and multi-currency support.[1][2][4] Founded in 2016 or 2017 in Cork, Ireland, Trustap has raised $8.92M–$10M total (including a $5.5M Series A about a year ago led by TX Ventures), grown to 35 employees with offices in Croatia, the UK, and the US, and secured over 40 global partners while focusing on international expansion, especially in emerging markets.[1][2][5]
Trustap was founded by CEO Conor Lyden, an engineering student at University College Cork (UCC), in 2016 (per CB Insights) or 2017 (per company sources and UCC).[1][2][3] The idea emerged from Lyden's personal frustration buying resale football tickets from strangers online while traveling to UK games—he felt uneasy sending money without guarantees, inspiring an escrow solution during UCC's IGNITE program.[2][3] Early traction came from awards like Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (Regional), Best Startup at Madrid's Online Marketplace Conference, and Lyden's inclusion in the Sunday Business Post’s 30 Under 30 in 2019.[2] Pivotal moments include a $3.4M seed round, integration with Stripe for secure payments, and recent $5.5M Series A, enabling global scaling as the first investment from Digital Irish's $1M venture fund.[1][2][5]
Trustap stands out in the payments and escrow space through these key features:
Trustap rides the explosion in peer-to-peer marketplaces and ecommerce, where fraud costs billions annually amid rising online/in-person stranger transactions (e.g., tickets, used goods).[1][3] Timing is ideal post-pandemic, with global digital commerce booming and emerging markets demanding localized trust solutions amid weak native protections.[2] Favorable forces include Stripe partnerships enabling scalability, regulatory pushes for KYC/AML, and investor interest in fintech (e.g., Digital Irish fund, TX Ventures).[1][2] It influences the ecosystem by powering secure transactions for 40+ partners across Europe, US, Southeast Asia, reducing chargebacks for platforms and boosting seller confidence in high-risk niches.[2][4]
Trustap is poised for accelerated growth via Series A momentum, targeting more marketplace integrations and emerging market localization with local payment partners.[1][2] Trends like AI fraud detection, cross-border ecommerce surges, and Web3 peer-to-peer shifts will shape it, potentially expanding to new verticals like services or NFTs. Influence may evolve from niche escrow player to core infrastructure for global marketplaces, especially if it captures high-volume UK/US deals as hinted in funding news.[5] This builds on its origins in everyday trust gaps, positioning Trustap as a safeguard in an increasingly stranger-filled digital economy.
Trustap has raised $9.7M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Trustap's investors include TX Ventures.
Trustap has raised $9.7M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $5.5M Series A in July 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2024 | $5.5M Series A | TX Ventures | — | Announced |
| Apr 7, 2022 | $3.4M Seed | — | — | Announced |
| Dec 1, 2019 | $800K Seed | — | — | Announced |