San Francisco-based Huma Finance has successfully raised $38 million to expand its payment financing platform. The company plans to leverage Solana and Stellar’s Soroban smart contract network to enhance the use of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).
Huma’s Dual Strategy Fuels RWA Expansion
Huma Finance’s $38 million fundraising follows a dual strategy. Initially, $10 million was secured through a direct equity investment managed by venture capital firm Distributed Global. Other significant contributors include Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, and TIBAS Ventures, which is connected to Turkey’s İş Bankası.
The remaining $28 million is tied to yield-generating real-world assets integrated into Huma’s platform, with Stellar Development Foundation contributing $10 million. Erbil Karaman, Huma’s co-founder, explained that these RWAs are structured as multi-layered bonds with varying maturities and packaged as exchange-traded products (ETPs) issued by Arf Capital, ensuring compliance with Switzerland’s digital ledger technology (DLT) laws.
Partnership Aims for $10 Billion Payment Target
At the beginning of 2024, Huma Finance will join forces with Arf, focusing on the tokenization of real-world assets. Despite the merger, both companies will continue to operate independently while offering an integrated platform under a common holding company. Huma expects this partnership to facilitate $10 billion worth of payment financing transactions within the next year.
Key Takeaways from Huma Finance’s Fundraising
From the recent fundraising, several valuable insights can be drawn:
- $10 million raised through equity investment led by Distributed Global.
- $28 million tied to yield-generating RWAs, with a significant contribution from Stellar Development Foundation.
- RWAs structured as ETPs to comply with Swiss DLT laws.
- Partnership with Arf aims for $10 billion in payment financing by next year.
Chao Deng, CEO of Hashkey Capital, emphasized that Huma’s PayFi network introduces essential liquidity and interoperability to a long-inefficient sector, marking a significant paradigm shift.
Huma Finance’s recent investment round signifies a crucial step towards building a robust blockchain-supported ecosystem to enhance trade finance solutions. With plans for expansion into Solana and Soroban, the company aims to establish a prominent position in this emerging field.
