Riga-based Handwave, a Latvian biometric startup, has secured €3.6 million in Seed funding to launch its palm-based payment and identity platform in Europe and the US. The funding round, led by Practica Capital with contributions from FirstPick, Outlast Fund, and Inovo.vc, will support 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 by replacing cards, phones, and even facial recognition with a simple palm scan. The proprietary technology allows customers to 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 hold their palm over a reader to pay, activate loyalty, or confirm their age – without the need for apps, phones, or wallets at checkout.
The company claims that unlike facial recognition, their technology doesn’t track your every move; and unlike fingerprints, it’s harder to spoof. Handwave uses two types of imaging—capturing the surface lines and subdermal vein structure of the palm—to create a unique, encrypted ID. Each scan is backed up by a unique algorithm, providing 2-factor authentication.
Handwave’s platform serves three main customer groups:
– Private individuals seeking faster, more seamless in-store checkout without juggling loyalty cards or unlocking devices.
– Merchants and retailers looking to reduce checkout friction, 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 through partnerships.
For retailers, Handwave offers a tool to increase throughput, simplify compliance, and digitize customer relationships without requiring expensive hardware upgrades or loyalty tokenization.
“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 now gearing up for market pilots, enhancing its biometric infrastructure, and expanding merchant partnerships across the Baltics and beyond.