Goldfinch raises $25M led by Andreessen Horowitz to double-down on 154X growth in 2021
Today we are thrilled to announce an additional $25M in funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto). This comes on the heels of the Goldfinch community’s tremendous progress towards solving the crucial missing piece in DeFi of loans without collateral. The vast majority of borrowers in the world can’t actually borrow on DeFi today because it requires overcollateralization with crypto. By removing that crypto collateral requirement, the Goldfinch protocol unlocks an entirely new level of borrower capacity. This is what will finally allow crypto to break out into global debt markets.
Building on our growth
Goldfinch is already making significant progress toward democratizing access to capital. Active loans on the protocol doubled every two months in 2021, up 154X from $250K a year ago to now $39M that is financing 200K+ borrowers across 18 countries. This capital is being used for a wide range of productive uses from motorcycle taxis in Kenya, to small businesses in Brazil, to eco-friendly cookstoves for low-income households in India — just to name a few.
“Goldfinch’s amazing community of individual and institutional backers has accelerated our ability to bring essential capital, just in time, to teams that are saving our world,” said Gautam Ivatury of ALMA, a borrower on Goldfinch that finances early-stage inclusive lenders and projects that reduce carbon emissions. “As the Goldfinch protocol gathers even more support and becomes even more flexible, we hope to innovate new ways to fund projects that will transform millions of lives.”
This new funding will help the Goldfinch protocol achieve its mission of expanding financial inclusion with an open credit protocol. The round comprises a dynamic group of investors with diverse backgrounds — from crypto-native institutional investors and tech startup veterans to global credit-sector funds and traditional hedge fund titans. Newcomers include Bill Ackman, Blocktower, Kingsway Capital, Helicap, YC Alumni Fund, Jinglan Wang, MSA Capital, and more. All prior investors in Goldfinch participated as well, including Kindred Ventures and Stratos Technologies.
Introducing the Goldfinch Foundation
As the Goldfinch protocol heads into the next phase of growth, the Goldfinch Foundation has been established to help steward the protocol. The foundation is an independent organizational structure that serves as a legal entity on behalf of the Goldfinch community.
In addition, the initial team behind Goldfinch is spinning out into Warbler Labs, which will grow into a separate organization contributing to the Goldfinch community and broader DeFi ecosystem. Warbler is separate from the Goldfinch Foundation, and will help maintain the protocol and contribute to it alongside everyone else in the Goldfinch community.
About Goldfinch
Goldfinch is a decentralized credit protocol that is using crypto to empower financial inclusion around the world. Our vision is to build a global, decentralized network that allows anyone to be a lender, not just banks. Since launching at the beginning of 2021, the protocol has doubled active loans every 2 months to now $39M in loans financing hundreds of thousands of borrowers.
Join the Goldfinch community on discord, follow us on twitter, or participate directly in the protocol at app.goldfinch.finance!
