Tenka closes pre-seed round led by Maven 11 to build asset-backed finance infrastructure

Private credit has a liquidity problem that’s roughly as old as private credit itself. You lend money against real assets, lock it up for years, and if you want out early, your options range from “find a buyer yourself” to “good luck.” Tenka, a London-based startup, just raised pre-seed capital to build the infrastructure that could change that equation.

The round, which closed on September 17, was led by Maven 11, the crypto-native venture capital firm, with participation from Gami Capital and a group of angel investors. The funding will go toward constructing a platform that ties together loan origination, placement, and secondary market trading for asset-backed finance, all running on-chain.

What Tenka is actually building

The core idea is straightforward in concept, even if the execution is anything but. Tenka wants to create a standardized market layer where investors can gain liquidity on private credit positions before the underlying loans mature, without altering the original loan terms.

The platform will feature independent net asset value calculations published on a weekly basis, consistent data reporting standards across facilities, and on-chain verification through a partnership with Tranched.fi. That last piece is important: Tranched.fi brings on-chain securitization capabilities, which means the structuring and reporting of these debt instruments can be audited and verified transparently rather than buried in quarterly PDF reports that arrive six weeks late.

Access will be gated. The platform is designed for professional and eligible investors, meaning permissioned wallets, KYC/AML checks, and audited smart contracts are all part of the architecture.

Two core financial instruments anchor the product suite. The first is tkUSD, a pooled senior vault targeting a net annual percentage yield of 8-9% with weekly liquidity options. The second is Deal Vaults, which offer facility-specific exposure at an expected APY range of 10-20%. The difference between the two maps neatly onto risk appetite: tkUSD is the diversified, lower-risk option, while Deal Vaults let investors pick their spots in individual credit facilities for higher potential returns.

Why Maven 11 is betting on this

Maven 11’s principal, Alexander Essle, framed the investment around a structural gap in the market: originators currently lack access to certain capital pools, and investors lack meaningful exit strategies once they’re in a private credit position.

Tenka’s CEO, Emile Dubié, has described the company’s mission as tackling the illiquidity that plagues private credit markets, particularly in loans that finance real economic activity.

The bigger picture for on-chain private credit

The platform’s planned launch in Q4 2026 gives the team roughly a quarter to finalize the infrastructure. The permissioned access model, combining on-chain transparency with traditional compliance requirements, reflects a design philosophy that’s becoming increasingly common among projects targeting institutional capital.