2023 New Portfolio: Huma Finance

Huma.finance, co-founded by Erbil Karaman and Richard Liu, is a cutting-edge Fintech company leveraging blockchain and smart contract technology. With its roots firmly planted in the world of finance and technology, Huma.finance has rapidly established itself as a leading credit platform that connects crypto-forward fintechs with global capital. This innovative approach enables real-time international transfers between banks as a third-party service provider, a market currently valued at around $20 billion.

Erbil Karaman, a prominent figure in the Turkish tech circle, brings an impressive track record to Huma.finance. Educated at the Middle East Technical University, often referred to as the "MIT of the Middle East", Karaman played a pivotal role in a major open-source video technology project, which later became a core component in Zoom. His journey includes significant contributions to Facebook's monumental growth, from 100 million to 1 billion users, and the founding of speedate.com, a video-based online speed dating company.

Richard Liu, a Tsinghua University graduate and a seasoned professional from Google, complements Karaman's expertise. Liu's technical leadership at Google and subsequent ventures, including Earnin, which he co-founded with Karaman, showcases his proficiency in the fintech space.

The founders' previous venture, Earnin, is a testament to their innovative approach in the lending sector, particularly in managing low-income group loans with minimal default rates. This experience has been instrumental in shaping Huma.finance's product design and operational strategies.

As for the company's growth, since its inception in June, Huma has facilitated over $10M in loans per month, showing rapid expansion. Their financing rounds and low burn rate reflect a strong market confidence and a solid runway for future operations.

Below is an article writen by my GPT based on open Internet search:

Huma Finance, a pioneering income-backed decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol, has been making significant strides in 2023. Here are the key takeaways from the recent developments surrounding Huma Finance:

• Substantial Seed Funding: In February 2023, Huma Finance raised $8.3 million in seed funding. This round was led by Race Capital and Distributed Global, with participation from other prominent investors. The funding is earmarked for developing Huma’s platform and expanding its market reach​​.
  

• Team’s Expertise and Vision: Founded by Erbil Karaman and Richard Liu, who have experience with companies like Google, Meta, Lyft, and Microsoft, Huma aims to address the limitations of the current crypto industry. By focusing on income-backed decentralized financial services, Huma is building infrastructure components crucial for a broader range of use cases and audience​​.
  

• Innovative Financial Protocol and Partnerships: Huma's protocol is designed to allow borrowing against income, making it a unique offering in the DeFi space. The company has partnered with Circle, Request Network, and Superfluid to launch the first on-chain factoring market on Ethereum Mainnet and Polygon. This move enables businesses and individuals globally to borrow against their income, revolutionizing traditional finance models​​​​.
  

• Community Growth and Protocol Development: Since its inception at ETHDenver 2022, Huma Finance has published a whitepaper, completed an audit, and launched a public beta. The community around Huma has grown significantly, with over 20 teams building on the Huma protocol and a substantial user base engaging with its decentralized application (dApp)​​.
  

• Technology Infrastructure: Huma Finance has developed a full-stack protocol with three layers: Decentralized Income Portfolio, Evaluation Agent framework, and smart contracts. This comprehensive infrastructure supports a wide range of lending use cases, from receivable refactoring to general-purpose credit lines​​.
  

• Customer Success Stories: A notable example of Huma's impact is its collaboration with Jia, which provides working capital to small businesses in Kenya and the Philippines. Through Huma Protocol, Jia’s clients can instantly access credit from the global blockchain ecosystem, significantly aiding rural health clinics in maintaining their medical inventory​​.
  

• Target Market and Goals: Huma Finance targets the global factoring services market, valued at $3 trillion in 2022, with the broader mission to close the $8 trillion financing gap in emerging markets. The company aims to make DeFi accessible to a wider audience, particularly focusing on income-based lending solutions for businesses and individuals​​​​.
  

These developments mark significant progress for Huma Finance in its mission to revolutionize the DeFi lending landscape, making it more accessible and equitable for a broader range of users and use cases.

Official website: https://huma.finance

Portfolio link: https://www.preangelfund.com/portfolio/huma

Twitter: https://twitter.com/humafinance

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/huma-finance

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@humafinance