In a bid to revolutionize the decentralized finance (DeFi) lending landscape and infuse greater transparency and responsibility, Cicada Partners, a non-custodial credit risk management company, has announced a successful Pre-Seed funding round, raising a total of $9.7 million in equity and debt capital commitments. The funding was led by Choppa Capital, with notable participation from Bitscale, Bodhi Ventures, Shiliang Tang, and several others.
The funds raised will facilitate Cicada Partners in seeding multiple new non-custodial lending pools, and furthering their research and development efforts on blockchain-enabled lending use cases.
Lars Rensing, a Board Member of Cicada, expressed excitement for what lies ahead, stating that this marks the beginning of a promising chapter for the company.
Rensing emphasized the urgent need for accountability and responsible lending within the crypto lending space, citing recent negative headlines in 2023 as a stark reminder of the existing challenges.
He outlined Cicada’s commitment to empowering lenders to engage in non-custodial lending while upholding the highest standards of responsibility and trustworthiness.
Looking forward, the funds will fuel the research and development efforts to address wider market challenges surrounding transparency and inefficiency, and ultimately contribute to the growth of institutional lending on public blockchains.
In the wake of the collapse of several centralized crypto lenders, Cicada Partners, drawing from their prior success in crypto lending, is striving to build non-custodial credit products leveraging the Cambrian explosion in blockchain-based credit origination protocols. The company aims to reintroduce responsible lending to the decentralized finance sector by leveraging smart contracts, proprietary risk models, and the growing adoption of stablecoins.
Sefton Kincaid, Co-Founder & CEO of Cicada Partners, highlighted the significance of this funding in propelling DeFi credit origination forward in a more mature and sustainable manner.
He acknowledged the challenges faced in the prior crypto credit cycle and emphasized the opportunity to establish longer-term use cases for credit origination protocols.
Kincaid particularly stressed the attractive cost savings offered by such platforms to credit underwriters, borrowers, and lenders, presenting a disruptive model to counter the rapid growth in private credit.
With this substantial funding injection, Cicada Partners stands poised to make significant strides in reshaping the landscape of DeFi lending, prioritizing responsibility, transparency, and long-term viability in the crypto lending space.
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