Exclusive: NFT-backed crypto loan startup raises $1.5m in seed round

Pine Protocol, an NFT-backed crypto loan platform, has raised US$1.5 million in a seed round led by Sino Global Capital, Amber Group, and Spartan Group, the company told Tech in Asia.

Investors including Alameda Research, Gate Ventures, Impossible Finance, and Shima Capital also took part in the fundraise.

The Pine Protocol team / Photo credit: Pine Protocol

Pine is a lending and borrowing protocol built on multiple blockchains to facilitate asset-backed financing. It enables users to put their assets, represented on-chain via NFTs, as collateral to borrow cryptocurrencies from lenders in real time. Currently, the platform supports OpenSea and LooksRare.

The company was founded by Alex Ho, who decided to build out Pine to help NFT owners unlock liquidity without having to sell their tokens.

“A year ago, I wanted to buy a Meebit but did not have spare ether in my wallet. I sold my Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) at 7 ether (US$14,466) to execute the trade. I wanted to buy back another BAYC but I never did and I still have my Meebit right now,” shared Ho.

Photo credit: Pine Protocol

Its “pine now, pay later” feature lets users purchase NFTs on open marketplaces with a mortgage, providing flexible financing terms. Currently, NFT owners can get a crypto loan on 30 NFT collections, including BAYC, Azuki, CloneX, Moonbird, and Doodle.

Since its alpha launch in February and official product launch at the end of April, Pine has facilitated over US$2 million in loans.

“We believe NFTs have a multi-decade growth runway and will unlock tremendous value for artists, builders, creators, curators, and owners,” said Wang Jian, head of principal investment at Amber Group.

Pine will use the fresh funds to develop the platform and add multi-chain support for Solana, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and Fantom, among others.