Infrastructure, payments, and the systems that need to just work
Software engineering for backend systems, payment processing, media platforms, and decentralised protocols. Shipped to production, owned by you.
What we build
Deep expertise across backend systems, payment processing, media platforms, and protocol engineering. End to end.
Backend & infrastructure
High-performance backend services, APIs, and infrastructure tooling. From VPS provisioning engines to media processing pipelines — systems that run for years without babysitting.
Payments & fintech
Bitcoin Lightning Network integration, fiat on-ramp systems, and payment processing infrastructure. Real payment systems — not white-label checkout pages.
Platforms & protocol engineering
Full-stack platform development, live streaming infrastructure, embedded tooling, and decentralised protocol implementations. From firmware to frontend, spec to production.
Shipped projects
Real systems running in production — not case studies with invented outcomes.
LNVPS — Bitcoin Lightning VPS
A complete VPS platform built from scratch in Rust. Instant provisioning, Bitcoin Lightning and fiat payments, on-demand VM upgrades. Running in production at lnvps.net.
Snort — Nostr web UI
Feature-packed Nostr client built in TypeScript/React. The most widely used web interface for the Nostr protocol, with 337+ GitHub stars and an active contributor community.
zap.stream — Live streaming
End-to-end Nostr live streaming platform: Rust backend core, React frontend, native app. Lightning-powered zaps, NIP-96 media, real-time ingestion via FFmpeg.
Route96 — Blossom/NIP-96 server
Self-hostable media serving infrastructure implementing the Blossom and NIP-96 protocols. File storage, image processing, and content addressing for the Nostr ecosystem.
Open source
Libraries, tools, and side projects — all public.
Rust streaming engine — HLS segmenting, transcoding, and Nostr event publishing for live video.
Decentralized torrent index on Nostr. P2P relay server and web frontend for censorship-resistant file discovery.
Real-time ADS-B aircraft tracking overlay for cameras — augmented reality for plane spotting.
Free file hosting platform with anonymous uploads, Stripe payments, and content addressing.
Firmware tool for DMR radios (Baofeng, TYT). Codeplug reading, writing, and firmware flashing.
Nostr archive relay. Iterates over JSON-L event archives for historical replay.
P2P relay backend for DTAN — torrent discovery over Nostr with BitTorrent integration.
Minimal payment handler library. Lightning, Revolut, and Stripe integrations in Rust.
Compliance test suite for Blossom media server implementations.
GPU-accelerated Nostr npub vanity address generator using CUDA.
Nostr Web Bridge — serve static sites via Nostr (nsite) with a Rust backend.
Low-level Rust bindings for FFmpeg. Unsafe wrappers used in zap-stream-core.
Full stack, from architecture to production
Apex Strata is an Irish software engineering company founded by Kieran Harkin. It builds and ships production systems — backend infrastructure, payment processing, media platforms, embedded tooling, and decentralised protocol implementations.
The company trades under two active brands: LNVPS, a Bitcoin Lightning-powered VPS provider running in production in Dublin, and Nostrlabs, focused on open-source Nostr protocol tooling.
When you work with Apex Strata, you get a team that has built and shipped the systems above — from first conversation through production deployment and beyond.
- Direct, no hand-offsSenior engineers lead every project. No bait-and-switch, no junior hand-offs mid-sprint, no account managers between you and the team building it.
- Proven infrastructureThe same backend patterns, payment integrations, and platform architectures that run LNVPS and other production systems are available for your project — battle-tested, not theoretical.
- Open-source coreOver 170 public repositories spanning Rust, TypeScript, C#, C++, and embedded systems. You can audit the quality before you commission.
- Full lifecycleArchitecture, build, test, deploy, monitor, iterate. You own the code at every stage. No lock-in, no recurring licence.
The people behind the code
Kieran Harkin
Founder & Director
Kieran founded Apex Strata after building production systems at BoyleSports (gambling platform engineering) and Strike (Bitcoin payments infrastructure). From 2023 to 2025 he was funded by OpenSats to work on open-source Nostr projects full-time — including Snort, zap.stream, and Route96.
He also built and operates LNVPS — a complete VPS platform with Bitcoin Lightning and fiat payment support, running in production in Dublin. His work spans Rust, TypeScript, C#, C++, and embedded systems across 170+ public repositories.
We take on a limited number of engagements at a time to stay hands-on. If you need a team that ships infrastructure, not slide decks — get in touch.
Start a conversation
Describe the project. If it's a fit, you'll hear back from the team.
Office
Apex Strata Limited
Suite 10628, 26/27 Upper Pembroke Street
Dublin 2, D02 X361, Ireland
Company
Registered in Ireland
Company no. 702423