About
Handwave is a Riga-based biometrics-as-a-service startup founded in 2021 by Janis Stirna and Sandis Osmanis-Usmanis that replaces cards, phones, and apps with a palm scan for payments, age verification, loyalty activation, and access control. The platform captures both surface palm lines and subdermal vein structures to build a unique encrypted biometric ID backed by two-factor authentication. Handwave has raised €4.3 million in total funding, including a €3.6 million seed round in 2025 led by Practica Capital with participation from FirstPick and Inovo.vc, and is piloting with live retailers across Europe and the US.
Investors 2
- FIRSTPICK Venture Capital · Vilnius
- Outlast Fund Venture Capital · Riga
Connection map
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Recent news
- Handwave lends a hand to retailers with its European alternative to Amazon's palm payments 2025-07-31 · TechCrunch
- Latvia's Handwave Secures $4.2M to Expand Palm-Based Payment Platform 2025-07-31 · ArcticStartup