This funding belongs to the biz owners who couldn't get a bank loan. Who turned down contracts bc they couldn't front the cash. Who paid 20% monthly interest — their only option. $7.3M raised to change that. Thank you to our investors — and every entrepreneur who trusted us.

Jia, a startup building a financial operating system for small businesses in Southeast Asia, has raised $3 million in funding, it tells @twifintech exclusively. @cbventures (Coinbase Ventures) led the round, which included participation from Stellar Development Foundation and A100x as well as existing backers TCG and Hashed Emergent. The financing brings Jia’s total raised since its 2022 inception to $7.3 million. Founded by Zach Marks and Cheng Cheng, alumni of financial inclusion pioneer Tala, the startup aims to resolve a systemic credit crunch in Southeast Asia by replacing “predatory” local lenders with institutional-grade capital, driven by a proprietary artificial intelligence engine. "Think of modern financial infrastructure platforms like Brex or Mercury, but purpose-built for small businesses in emerging markets that have historically been locked out of the traditional banking system," Jia CEO Zach Marks told This Week in Fintech. Read more in the article link in the comments

One thing I love about @twifintech is all the non-obvious companies doing interesting things that we get to cover around the world. Jia, built by Tala alums, is one of them! Fixing business credit in SE Asia, with backing from @coinbase. Full story from @bayareawriter.

Excited to power @jia_DeFi's mission to transform emerging market finance! 🌍 Our first loan together helped B&C Logistics in the Philippines keep their trucks rolling to deliver food to grocery stores like Alfamart. Global liquidity for local entrepreneurs. Less stress. More growth

1/ 🚨 Big news for emerging markets finance: @jia_DeFi just launched its first onchain credit facility on @arbitrum with @CreditCoop_xyz 🇵🇭 Structured SME lending — now onchain. Global capital meets local impact. Here’s what that means 🧵👇

This post is the GTM for our GTM mentors working directly with our builders for IncuBase. Meet them: - @jessepollak: @base builder #001 - @wagmialexander: Cofounder at Aerodrome - @0xSehaj: Founder @AvantisFi - @dotcuriouscat: General Partner @PortalVentures - @emilylai: cmo @hypepartners - @asanjeevrao: founder @leap_wallet - @mr_usoro: growth, marketing @mygamichq @finnahq - @segall_max: from @privy_io - @0xcush: founder @odisealabs - @0xguty: DevRel at @odisealabs - @0xrafacc: Smart Contract engineer for @odisealabs - @SolangeSoifer: contributor @odisealabs - @D9J9V: from @odisealabs - @zmarks215: financial access @jia_DeFi - @stchibie: from @paycrest - @0xAneri: product lead apps, social, and creators @base - @joshcrnls: building and investing @seedclub - @kapursanat: from y @dragonfly_xyz - @0xryankim: Founding Partner of @hashed_official - @lindaxie: Developer ecosystem @farcaster_xyz - @nitinsharma1 : Partner @AntlerGlobal - @thomasdrach: product design @base - @AhaanRaizada: Co-founder & Chief Yapper @thebrainstormHQ

As we get into Week 3, we have intensive workshops across various topics. With some of the best: - @jessepollak: @base Builder #001 - @joshcrnls: Partner, @seedclub - @kapursanat: Partner, @dragonfly_xyz - @wagmiAlexander: Co-founder, @AerodromeFi - @0xryankim: Co-founder & Partner, @hashed_official - @segall_max: COO, @privy_io - @lindaxie: Developer Ecosystem Lead, @farcaster_xyz - @emilylai: CMO, @hypepartners - @dotcuriouscat: General Partner, @PortalVentures - @nitinsharma1: Partner, @AntlerGlobal - @mr_usoro: Growth & Marketing @mygamichq - @asanjeevrao: Founder, @leap_wallet - @HorinekPM: Growth, @serotonin_hq - @0xSehaj: Founder, @avantisfi - @thomasdrach: Design Lead @base - @0xAneri: Product Lead, Socials & Creators @base - @zmarks215: Co-founder & CEO, @jia_DeFi - @stchibie: Builder #001, @paycrest