Wildcat Labs Raises $3.5 Million to Expand Onchain Undercollateralized Lending

Wildcat Labs, the developer behind the Wildcat lending protocol, has closed a $3.5 million seed extension round led by Robot Ventures, as it seeks to accelerate adoption of undercollateralized credit within DeFi.

Backing From Top Investors

The raise drew support from Triton Capital, Polygon Ventures, Safe Foundation, Hyperithm, Hermeneutic Investments, and Kronos Research, along with high-profile angel investors such as Fei Protocol founder Joey Santoro, Vyper core contributor Charles Cooper, and Ink founder Andrew Koller.

Robot Ventures partner Anirudh Pai called undercollateralized lending “one of the biggest problems in DeFi” and said Wildcat’s momentum reflects strong demand for “cheap and safe private credit.” Kronos Ventures’ Jason Brannigan added that by enabling trusted borrowers to design their own lending markets, Wildcat creates a scalable foundation for capital-efficient credit.

Deal Terms and Strategic Use of Funds

The round was structured as a SAFE, opening in April and closing in August, with a $35 million post-money valuation. Investors acquired a 10% stake, according to Wildcat Labs co-founder and CEO Laurence Day.

This brings Wildcat’s total fundraising to $5.3 million, following earlier pre-seed and seed rounds backed by Wintermute Ventures and Cobie’s Echo platform. The new capital will fund engineering and business development hires, expand the team beyond its current seven members, and support the launch of new market types on the protocol. Day said the raise provides roughly two years of runway, with the company already profitable.

How Wildcat Works

Founded in 2023 by Laurence Day and Dillon Kellar, with Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy as a silent partner, Wildcat is designed to bring private credit onchain. Unlike traditional platforms, the protocol does not underwrite loans itself. Instead, it allows borrowers to customize nearly every aspect of a loan, from reserve ratios to lender whitelists, embodying a “free market” approach.

Crucially, Wildcat supports undercollateralized loans, differentiating it from DeFi incumbents such as Aave, Euler, and Compound. The protocol earns revenue by charging a 5% fee on borrower-offered APR.

Growing Market Traction

Since launching its V2 protocol on Ethereum in February, Wildcat has originated $368 million in credit, with $150 million currently outstanding. Borrowers have included Wintermute, Hyperithm, Selini Capital, Amber Group, and Keyrock. The platform has also facilitated emergency bridge financing following protocol hacks and pre-market speculation on new token launches.

Day positioned Wildcat as a response to the opacity that fueled collapses like Terra and FTX, arguing that onchain private credit brings transparency and accountability to one of finance’s most powerful tools. “Capital leverage is the heart of the modern world,” he said, “and Wildcat is one of the final pieces that allows DeFi to truly claim it has formed a parallel financial system.”