Gauntlet raises $125M from SBI Holdings to expand DeFi services
The DeFi risk management firm landed its largest funding round ever from Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings, signaling deepening institutional appetite for on-chain yield infrastructure.
Gauntlet, the DeFi infrastructure firm that started life as a risk consultancy for protocols, just secured $125 million from SBI Holdings. The Japanese financial conglomerate was the sole participant in the round, which closed in June.
To put that number in perspective, Gauntlet’s previous largest raise was a $23.8 million Series B in March 2022, led by Ribbit Capital at a $1 billion valuation. This new round is roughly five times that amount. CEO Tarun Chitra declined to share the valuation for this latest fundraise.
From risk consultant to yield curator
Gauntlet was founded in 2018. The firm initially built its reputation by running simulations and making governance recommendations for blue-chip protocols like Aave and Compound.
Gauntlet now actively manages yield vaults holding assets like USDC, BTC, and WETH, operating as what the industry calls a “yield curator” on platforms like Morpho. In late 2025, the company handled a $775 million supply event on Morpho.
Strategic partnerships tell the story
In April 2025, Gauntlet partnered with Securitize on a tokenized Apollo credit fund yield product. Then in March 2026, Gauntlet collaborated with Privy to implement embedded on-chain yield options.
Chitra holds degrees in mathematics and applied engineering physics from Cornell and previously worked at D.E. Shaw Research and Vatic Labs.
CEO Tarun Chitra confirmed to Fortune that the new funds will primarily support the firm’s expansion into services aimed at helping institutions and crypto firms allocate digital assets effectively through sophisticated data-driven risk modeling and yield curation.