Riga-based Handwave, a biometric startup founded in Latvia, has raised €3.6 million in Seed funding to launch its palm-based payment and identity platform in Europe and the US.
The round includes backing from regional investors, led by Practica Capital, with support from FirstPick, Outlast Fund and Inovo.vc, and will fund product development, regulatory certifications, and live retail pilots.
“We’re building the next evolution in everyday identity and payment experiences,” says Jānis Stirna, Co-founder of Handwave. “The checkout process in physical stores is still full of friction – digging for a wallet, opening apps, scanning loyalty cards or QR codes, verifying age while buying age-restricted items. It’s slow, clunky, and often frustrating. Handwave simplifies all of that with a single gesture. When people hear they can pay, collect loyalty points, and verify their identity just by showing their palm, they instantly grasp the convenience. It immediately clicks. We’re not just innovating for the sake of technology – we’re solving a very real and universal problem for both customers and merchants.”
Founded in 2021, Handwave turns your palm into a secure, contactless way to pay, prove your age, activate instant loyalties and check in – no cards, no phones, no apps, no facial scans. Just a gesture.
The company’s founders and core team come from the finance and technology industries, giving them an understanding of industry needs as well as the importance of security, compliance, and convenience in modern solutions.
Handwave is reimagining how people pay and verify their identity – replacing cards, phones, and even facial recognition with a simple palm scan. Using proprietary technology, the solution enables customers to easily onboard themselves, scan their palm using their phone camera, and link payment and loyalty cards, as well as identity credentials, to a secure digital wallet.
Once enrolled, users can simply hold their palm over a reader to pay, activate loyalty, or confirm their age – no apps, phones, or wallets needed at checkout.
The company says that unlike facial recognition, however, their tech doesn’t track your every move; and that unlike fingerprints, it’s far harder to spoof. Handwave uses two types of imaging – capturing both the surface lines and subdermal vein structure of your palm – to build a unique, encrypted ID. Each scan is reportedly backed up by its own unique algorithm – providing 2-factor authentication.
Handwave’s platform serves three key customer groups:
- Private individuals who seek faster, more seamless in-store checkout without juggling loyalty cards or unlocking devices.
- Merchants and retailers who want to reduce friction at checkout, enhance customer experience, and access smart services like built-in age verification and loyalty integration.
- Acquiring service providers, financial institutions, payments operators and banks – both consumer and business-to-business via partnerships
For retailers, Handwave offers a tool to increase throughput, simplify compliance, and digitise customer relationships – without requiring expensive hardware upgrades or expensive loyalty tokenisation.
“Handwave demonstrates the kind of bold thinking we look for in local Baltic Founders,” said Arvydas Blože, Partner at Practica Capital. “The idea that you can securely pay or verify your identity with nothing but your palm – without needing to take out a phone – is not just futuristic, it’s imminently practical. Their technology is bold, intuitive, and answers a real need in today’s increasingly digital world. And we believe that Handwave is at the forefront.”
To date, Handwave has raised €4.3 million in total funding, including an earlier €682k angel investment. The company is currently preparing for market pilots, deepening its biometric infrastructure, and engaging its merchant partnerships across the Baltics and beyond.
