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Crypto lending funding: $259.25M since July, no firm led twice

By NAUT Research · · 6 min read

$259.25M Crypto lending funding raised by 10 lending and credit startups across 11 rounds, 1 July to 28 October 2026. Logos: USD.AI, Spiko, Tare, Pact Labs, Anvil, Hylo, Nara, Tenor Finance, Saturn, Concrete.

Crypto lending funding from 1 July to 28 October 2026 came to $259.25M: 10 lending and credit startups announced 11 rounds, and the 9 rounds that disclosed an amount raised that sum. Tether, Variant, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Founders Fund, NEA and Solana Ventures led 1 round each, no firm led 2, and USD.AI took $140M of the total in debt.

Data as of 28 October 2026, from NAUT's funding records. The scope is rounds into onchain lending, credit and money market protocols. Each round is checked against outside reports, listed under Sources. 2 rounds are carried on NAUT's record alone: no outside report matched Saturn's 13 August strategic round, and coverage of Nara's $500K puts it on 26 August rather than the 25th on file. Tenor Finance's 22 July round sits at no amount on NAUT's record, and the $2.5M used here comes from BetaKit's report of it. NAUT lists Blockchain Capital under more than 1 row, and the row linked here is the one that carries the Tare seed. NAUT Research wrote this report, and no one paid for it.

Which crypto lending funding rounds closed, and who led each?

11 rounds closed between 1 July and 28 October 2026. 7 named a lead, and 4 named none.

Date Company Round and size Led by
14 Jul Series A, $7M
22 Jul Extended seed, $2.5M
13 Aug Strategic, undisclosed No lead named
19 Aug Strategic, undisclosed
25 Aug Incubation, $500K No lead named
28 Aug Debt financing, $100M Facility from
15 Sep Debt financing, $40M Single lender, not yet on NAUT
16 Sep Seed, $13.25M
6 Oct OTC purchase, $5M
6 Oct Series B, $90M
20 Oct Strategic, $1M

Who runs each company, and who backed it?

How much crypto lending funding did each startup raise?

Raised per company, the 8 that disclosed an amount
  1. USD.AI$140M
  2. Spiko$90M
  3. Tare$13.25M
  4. Pact Labs$7M
  5. Anvil$5M
  6. Tenor Finance$2.5M
  7. Hylo$1M
  8. Nara$0.5M

USD.AI took $140M across 2 debt financing rounds 18 days apart, 54% of the $259.25M total, and Spiko took $90M in 1 Series B. Saturn and Concrete disclosed no amount, so they are not in the chart.

What this tells a BD team

  • All 10 teams closed money in the last 4 months. The newest is Hylo on 20 October, then Anvil and Spiko on 6 October, so a budget conversation is live at every one of them.
  • 2 companies hold most of the money. USD.AI at $140M and Spiko at $90M are $230M of the $259.25M disclosed, 88.7%. The other 6 that disclosed raised $29.25M between them, so the ticket sizes split the list in 2 before you write a line of outreach.
  • 44 of the backers have a NAUT page. Across the 11 rounds there are 45 company backer rows and 44 distinct firms, plus 3 angel rows with no page yet, so almost every name on these cap tables is 1 click from its team.
How a BD team can work this list
  1. Split by ticket sizeUSD.AI at $140M and Spiko at $90M are 88.7% of the disclosed total. The other 6 that disclosed raised $29.25M.
  2. Open with the freshestHylo closed on 20 October, Anvil and Spiko on 6 October.
  3. Find the decision makerEach company page lists its team, such as CEO Kevin Li at Saturn.
  4. Work the cap table44 backers of these rounds have a NAUT page, with their own team and contact routes.

What this tells a crypto lending founder

  • The lead slots are wide open. 7 of the 11 rounds named a lead, 7 different firms took those slots, and none led 2. 4 rounds named no lead: Saturn, Nara and both USD.AI debt facilities, which each came from a single lender.
  • is the only firm in 3 of these rounds. It joined Concrete in August and Anvil in October, and provided USD.AI's $100M debt facility on 28 August, per PR Newswire. Every other firm on these cap tables appears once.
  • Debt is a live route at this size. USD.AI raised $100M on 28 August and $40M on 15 September as debt financing rather than equity, while the 9 other rounds in the window ran as seed, strategic, Series A, Series B, incubation or an OTC token purchase.
  • Exchanges and trading firms show up next to the funds. Bullish, BitGo, Flowdesk, FalconX, Keyrock, Ondo Finance and Avalanche Foundation all backed a round here, so defi lending funding in this window came from venues and infrastructure as much as from venture funds.
How a founder can use this list
  1. See who leads at your stageVariant led Tenor Finance's $2.5M extended seed, Blockchain Capital led Tare's $13.25M seed and NEA led Spiko's $90M Series B.
  2. Target the open slots4 of the 11 rounds named no lead, so Ondo Finance and the other participants here write checks without taking the lead.
  3. Add a venue or a market makerBullish, BitGo, Flowdesk, FalconX and Keyrock each backed a round in this window.
  4. Reach the partnerEach investor page on NAUT lists its team and the people to contact.

How to reach the decision makers

Every company, investor and person above links to its NAUT page, which lists the team, the backers and the people to contact. 44 of the backers across these 11 rounds have a page, and 3 angel rows do not yet. For the companies, the fastest route is the company page, then the named founder or CEO: Kevin Li at Saturn, Nic Roberts-Huntley at Concrete, Paul-Adrien Hyppolite at Spiko, David Choi at USD.AI and Plish at Hylo.

Can you pull this data through the NAUT API?

Yes. Every company in this article is in NAUT's developer API as JSON, the same records the pages show. GET https://api.naut.so/v1/projects/tether returns that company with its team, in the same shape as every other company named here, for 5 credits a call. A key with no credits gets clearly marked sample data, so you can build against it first. Plans start at $49 a month for 3,000 credits (pricing), and the API docs list every endpoint. Verified Telegram, email and LinkedIn for the people on NAUT unlock on any paid plan: start a 7-day trial.

Crypto lending funding FAQ

How much crypto lending funding was raised between July and October 2026?

$259.25M, across the 9 of 11 rounds that disclosed an amount between 1 July and 28 October 2026. Saturn and Concrete disclosed no amount.

Who invested in crypto lending startups since July 2026?

From 1 July to 28 October 2026, 7 firms led 1 round each: Tether, Variant, Polychain Capital, Blockchain Capital, Founders Fund, NEA and Solana Ventures. The firms that joined include Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, Index Ventures, Bpifrance, Wintermute, FalconX and Bullish, 44 backers with a NAUT page in total.

Which crypto lending startup raised the most since July 2026?

USD.AI raised the most, $140M across 2 debt financing rounds on 28 August and 15 September 2026. Spiko is next with a $90M Series B on 6 October 2026, the largest equity round in the window.

Did any crypto credit funding come as debt rather than equity?

Yes. USD.AI took both of its rounds as debt financing, $100M on 28 August 2026 and $40M on 15 September 2026, which is 54% of the $259.25M raised in the window.

Which investors backed more than 1 crypto lending round?

Only Bullish. It joined Concrete's strategic round on 19 August 2026 and Anvil's $5M OTC purchase on 6 October 2026, and provided USD.AI's $100M debt facility on 28 August 2026, per PR Newswire. The other 43 backers with a NAUT page each appear in 1 round.

Can I get this data through an API?

Yes. NAUT's developer API at api.naut.so/v1 returns the data behind this article as JSON: GET /v1/projects/tether returns that company with its team, in the same shape as every other company named here. A call costs 5 credits, and a key with no credits returns marked sample data for free.

Sources

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