ZBD

ZBD (also referred to as Zebedee Europe) is a fintech company that describes itself as "the money layer for games." It builds licensed financial infrastructure designed to turn money movement inside video games into a driver of player engagement, revenue, and loyalty. Rather than operating as a consumer-facing bank, ZBD positions itself as a business-to-business payments and compliance layer that game publishers and platforms can integrate to handle in-game transactions, payouts, and value transfers. The company operates at the intersection of gaming and regulated finance. According to its own materials, ZBD is a fully licensed payment service provider active in major markets, offering a single integration that gives partners compliant access to players across the United States and the European Union. Its regulatory footprint includes Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and Crypto Service Asset Provider (CASP) status under MiCAR across the European Economic Area, Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) across US states, and alignment with frameworks such as PSD2 and SOC2. This dual licensing approach is central to its pitch: it lets game companies move money without having to assemble their own patchwork of financial licenses. ZBD is a relatively young and deliberately lean organization. Its own "about" page states that it is six years old, has 65 employees globally, reaches more than 4 million engaged gamers, and has raised $90 million in total. The company has been fully remote from the start, with no fixed office and no fixed hours, and it recruits talent globally. Its leadership team combines gaming and fintech backgrounds, including co-founders Simon Cowell (CEO) and André Neves (CTO), alongside executives covering strategy, commercial, legal and compliance, finance and operations, product, and risk. The brand is backed by investors and is licensed in both the EU and the United States. Its core proposition is that money movement in games should be regulated, secure, and scalable, and that a single compliant integration can serve players across two of the world's largest gaming markets. ZBD therefore sits in the fintech-payments segment, specifically in the niche of gaming-focused payment infrastructure and licensed crypto asset services, rather than in traditional retail banking.

ZBD, also known as Zebedee Europe, was founded as a fintech venture focused on the intersection of gaming and regulated payments. Its own corporate materials describe the company as six years old at the time of writing, with a global team of 65 employees and more than 4 million engaged gamers reached. The company states it has raised $90 million in total funding. From the outset, ZBD was built as a fully remote organization with no office and no fixed hours, a structure it says allows it to hire the best talent globally and support flexible lifestyles. Its leadership team was assembled from both the gaming and fintech industries, with co-founders Simon Cowell (CEO) and André Neves (CTO) at the helm, supported by executives responsible for strategy, commercial development, legal and compliance, finance and operations, product, and risk. The company's strategic direction has centered on becoming a licensed financial infrastructure provider for the games industry. Rather than building a consumer wallet or bank, ZBD pursued regulatory licensing that would allow it to move money on behalf of game companies in major markets. According to its own disclosures, it holds Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and Crypto Service Asset Provider (CASP) status under MiCAR across the European Economic Area, Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) across US states, and operates in alignment with PSD2 and SOC2 requirements. This licensing stack is presented as the foundation of its "money layer for games" proposition: one integration that gives partners compliant access to players across the US and EU. ZBD's public positioning emphasizes that it is "a different kind of fintech," assembled to disrupt payments in the gaming industry. Its brand messaging stresses that money movement can be a driver of engagement, revenue, and loyalty when handled through licensed, secure, and scalable infrastructure. The company operates in the world's top markets and is backed by investors, though specific investor names and funding rounds are not detailed in the available evidence. As of the available information, ZBD remains an active, privately held company with a dual-market regulatory footprint in the European Union and the United States. Its history is one of building compliance and licensing depth first, then offering that infrastructure to game publishers and platforms as a service layer.

• ZBD founded as a gaming-focused fintech venture

• Company built as fully remote from the start

• Obtained EMI and CASP licensing under MiCAR across the EEA

• Secured Money Transmitter Licenses across US states

• Reached 4M+ engaged gamers and $90m total raised

A licensed, regulated financial infrastructure layer for the gaming industry, offering compliant money movement across the US and EU through one integration.

• The money layer for games

  Licensed financial infrastructure that turns money movement into engagement, revenue, and loyalty.

• Single integration for US and EU compliance

  One integration giving compliant access to players across the US and EU.

• EMI and CASP services under MiCAR

  Licensed Electronic Money Institution and Crypto Service Asset Provider across the EEA.

• Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs)

  Regulatory coverage across US states for the American market.

1. 1ZBD - The Money Layer for Gameszbdpay.com
2. 2About ZBD - ZBDzbdpay.com
3. 3Zebedee Europe - Wikidatawikidata.org