Jia Raises $4.3 Million In Seed Funding

Jia, a fintech company utilizing blockchain technology to offer loans to micro and small businesses in developing economies, has secured $4.3 million in seed funding. The round also included contributions from various funds such as BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research. Moreover, the company received an additional commitment of $1 million specifically allocated for on-chain liquidity.

Jia Raises $4.3 Million In Seed Funding

Blockchain-based fintech company, Jia, has successfully raised $4.3 million in seed funding, accompanied by an additional commitment of $1 million for on-chain liquidity. The funding round was led by early-stage supporter TCG Crypto, with the participation of notable funds including BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research.

Angel investors Packy McCormick, founder of Not Boring, Anand Iyer of Canonical Crypto, and fintech lending company founders Jared Hecht (Fundera) and Rory Eakin (CircleUp) also joined the round.

Jia specializes in providing loans to micro and small businesses in emerging markets, leveraging blockchain technology. The company aims to utilize the funding to further expand its operations in Kenya and the Philippines. Additionally, the company plans to explore new markets in West Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

Founded last year by former Tala executives Zach Marks, Cheng Cheng, Ivan Orone, and Yuting Wang, Jia implements decentralized finance to offer loans to borrowers. Upon repayment, borrowers receive tokens that can be redeemed at an agreed-upon rate based on Jia’s profits.

The idea is to provide affordable financing for micro-businesses, and when they repay, they become owners by getting token rewards

Marks, CEO and co-founder

Blockchain-based fintech firm Jia has introduced an innovative approach to its lending system by offering Jia points, which can be claimed once the token infrastructure is fully established. These tokens serve as collateral, enabling borrowers to secure lower interest rates, higher loan amounts, and more flexible loan terms.

In an attempt to replicate the successful model of community finance groups, such as table-banking groups popular in markets like Kenya, Jia allows borrowers to become members and earn from the groups. The company has recently partnered with Huma Finance, an income-backed decentralized finance protocol, to launch its first on-chain pool.

Jia addresses the existing gap in the market left by digital lenders and loan apps that limit credit to amounts not exceeding $1,000. It provides loans of up to $5,000 to small businesses, recognizing the need for larger sums and extended durations to support business growth effectively.

The loan repayment period offered by Jia is flexible and can extend up to six months, while the interest rates range from 2% to 6% per month, depending on the borrower’s profile. Borrowers accessing inventory and invoice financing are given up to three months to repay their loans.

The loans range in size from $200 up to $5,000 … they are really competitively priced. We charge about a third the interest rate of the typical consumer fintech lender

Marks, CEO and co-founder

Jia taps customers by integrating into the apps of its local partners, including Ilara Health, which supplies medical inventory to a network of over 2,000 small clinics.

Ilara’s focus is on helping clinics grow by selling medicine, low-cost diagnostic devices. They don’t want to deal with credit risk on their balance sheet, so we step in to finance an inventory financing program for them. We get access to proprietary data on these clinics, which helps us underwrite in a way that banks and other lenders can’t

Marks, CEO and co-founder

Jia is part of a group of fintech firms dedicated to addressing the access-to-finance disparity that hinders business growth in markets like Africa. Statistics reveal that small enterprises constitute 90% of Africa’s businesses, yet they encounter a financing gap of $330 billion.

Traditional lenders often demand collateral and impose numerous time-consuming prerequisites before granting loans to these businesses. Fintech companies like Jia are taking action to bridge this financial divide.

What is really exciting in what we’re doing is opening up the world’s capital to MSMEs, so they can receive affordable financing

Marks, CEO and co-founder

Jia is not just providing financing, we are providing a path to economic resilience and this opportunity to build wealth in a new way that hasn’t been done before.

Marks, CEO and co-founder

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