Google Ventures led a $30M seed round for Nebex, a cross-border payments startup targeting the space industry. The company aims to facilitate deals of $100M+ despite tariffs and security rules.
Google Ventures led a $30 million seed round for Nebex, a cross-border payments platform designed for the space industry.
The deal, announced Monday, gives the startup resources to build out its technology and link sovereign space programs with private developers. Nebex has not yet launched its platform.
Founder Tejpaul Bhatia, a former Axiom Space CEO, said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the company wants to solve the payment friction between countries and companies operating in space. “The cross-border friction when it comes to payments between countries and companies is really complex, and that’s what we’re solving for,” Bhatia said.
International trade for the U.S. space industry has historically been tangled in national security rules, according to the Bloomberg report. Many companies work closely with the American government and face strict compliance requirements. Bhatia said Nebex would not change how companies or governments handle those issues. Instead, the startup aims to structure deals large enough – at least $100 million – to make international business profitable despite tariffs, procurement rules, and import-export restrictions.
Nebex has formed a banking partnership with J.P. Morgan Chase. Aneeka Sajid, market executive for innovation economy at J.P. Morgan, said in a release: “The space economy is at an inflection point, and founders like Tejpaul and his team are building essential infrastructure that expands access and accelerates innovation across the ecosystem.”
The seed round arrives as the broader cross-border payments space gets tested by the 2026 World Cup, which will span three host countries and generate billions in ticket sales, travel bookings, and merchandise. Merchants face a surge in transactions from dozens of payment methods and currencies, a scenario that makes legitimate customer behavior look suspicious. Justin Benson, CEO of Spreedly, told PYMNTS: “The World Cup is the ultimate test for cross-border payments. It’s really going to highlight any cracks that you might have in your approval process.”
Nebex plans to focus on space-specific payments, not general cross-border flows. Bhatia did not provide a launch date for the platform.
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