Masa Finance, described as a “first of its kind” credit protocol that “bridges the gap between CeFi and DeFi,” has raised a $3.5 million pre-seed round.
The funding was backed by Unshackled Ventures, executives from GoldenTree Asset Management, Flori Ventures, GSR, Decentranet, Intersect VC, Lateral Capital, Peer VC, Alves Ventures, and several angel investors in the fintech/blockchain space including Louis Beryl (founder of Earnest), Gustavo Menezes (24hr of Le Mans Driver for Peugeot Sport), and Jacob Riglin (NFT artist) – who will be launching future NFT-collateralized loan products.
Masa states that it has developed Web3 infrastructure for on-chain credit scoring. The service aggregates off-chain and on-chain data into a non-fungible credit report. The report is designed to provide lenders with easy access to information to evaluate borrower risk. Masa says it is currently aggregating over 10K of off-chian data (traditional info from banks, credit bureaus, etc.) from 78 different countries, via partner Pngme. The on-chain data is achieved via 26 integrations with exchanges and wallets adding DeFi credit info.
By using Masa, the company expects individuals and businesses to link, manage, and track data to leverage their complete financial profile as a hybrid credit score for both old finance as well as digital versions.
Masa is building on Celo and Ethereum with 36,000 people already signed up to the platform.
Masa reports that the first credit products launching on the protocol include a “credit builder loan, uncollateralized loans, and an SME line of credit through its app.”
Brendan Playford, Masa’s Founder, believes the current financial system fails to serve individuals fairly:
“Masa believes that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to build wealth by leveraging credit. By combining centralized and decentralized finance elements, Masa’s platform will play a vital role in establishing an inclusive credit system and onboard the first billion users to DeFi.”
Manan Mehta, founding GP of Unshackled Ventures, noted this is the second time they have backed Playford and they have been inspired:
“What Masa reflects is a more equitable future that provides access to capital to a global population, mostly overlooked by traditional finance. We feel fortunate to be a part of this journey as the values of Masa align squarely with ours.”
Masa is now in the midst of pursuing a seed round to launch a production release and pursue a public token sale.
“I’m excited to invest in Masa Finance,” said Jacob Riglin. “My contribution reflects the significance of Masa’s mission of empowering financially excluded individuals to utilize a comprehensive credit profile and begin building wealth.”