Fintech startup Tenka Labs closes pre seed round led by Maven 11 with Gami Capital
This article covers Tenka Labs, a fintech startup that has closed a pre-seed funding round to build market infrastructure connecting the origination, placement and trading of asset-backed finance instruments. The development is intended to support originators and investors by combining structured book-building at issuance with the foundations of a secondary market to improve liquidity in asset-backed finance.
Tenka Labs, a fintech startup, has closed a pre-seed funding round to build market infrastructure that connects the origination, placement and trading of asset-backed finance instruments — combining structured book-building at deal launch with the foundations of a secondary market for ongoing trading. The funding will finance product development ahead of a planned platform launch later this year.
Why it matters
Asset-backed finance underpins everyday economic activity — from consumer loans and business receivables to equipment leases — but the market has long faced a liquidity challenge. Investors who want to exit before maturity typically rely on bilateral sales or fund-level redemptions, and recent moves by large private credit managers to cap or reshape withdrawals have highlighted how difficult it is to convert privately held credit into readily tradable positions.
Tenka’s proposal addresses that gap by attempting to create a dealing layer where exposures can be transferred between buyers with different liquidity needs and horizons without forcing borrowers to repay early or funds to finance exits. If successful, that could broaden the pool of capital available to originators and offer more flexibility for investors, albeit without guaranteed outcomes on price or net asset value.
Inside the product
Tenka combines structured book-building at origination with ongoing collateral reporting, independent valuation and settlement tools so prospective buyers can price exposures without reconstructing them from scratch. Structured book-building aims to align investors around each transaction’s risk, return and duration at the point of issuance, while the ongoing price discovery and settlement infrastructure targets a functioning secondary market.
The company says it is working with Tranched for onchain securitisation expertise. Tranched’s role, as described, is to support the tokenisation and servicing of collateral information and valuations — effectively providing the technical layer to make exposures intelligible and tradable to new buyers.
Tenka emphasises that the objective is not to turn long-duration assets into short-term assets, but to create a credible route to liquidity by enabling transfers of exposure. The firm warns that liquidity will remain price- and demand-dependent and that an exit at net asset value is not assured.
Who are the investors?
The pre-seed round was led by Maven 11, with participation from Gami Capital and a syndicate of angel investors.
The investment is positioned as a bet on improving market plumbing for private credit and asset-backed finance. The deal reflects interest from fintech investors in infrastructure that can unlock new pools of capital by making tradable the information and settlement processes around privately originated exposures.
In the announcement, Alexander Essle, Principal at Maven11, said:
Private credit struggles with illiquidity more than asset quality. LPs are locked in for long durations and originators cannot recycle capital. Tenka opens a form of capital formation that did not exist for originators, allowing them to find untapped pools of capital directly onchain. For investors, it unlocks liquidity through the formation of a secondary market, so new investors can buy into opportunities and existing investors gain more flexibility with their strategies.
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Founder perspective
In the announcement, Emile Dubié, CEO of Tenka, said:
Asset-backed finance funds the real economy. We're building the infrastructure to connect it with more investors and develop a secondary market that provides better options for investors looking to exit. Dubié frames Tenka’s work as infrastructure rather than a liquidity silver bullet: the platform seeks to bring consistent collateral information and standardised terms to support more efficient underwriting and trading, while making clear that ultimate liquidity depends on buyer demand and price discovery.
The bigger picture
Tenka’s approach sits at the intersection of private credit growth and the push to apply tokenisation and onchain processes to real-world assets. The private credit market in the UK and Europe has expanded in recent years as banks retrenched from certain lending areas, but the growth has been accompanied by structural liquidity constraints. Platforms that improve transparency, standardisation and settlement could reduce frictions for institutional and private investors, but they also raise questions about market depth, regulatory oversight and valuation discipline.
The announcement follows a string of research and discussion about the dealing layer for asset-based finance, underscoring broader ecosystem interest in building market infrastructure rather than only creating new origination vehicles.
Tenka’s product rollout and its partnerships will be worth watching as regulators and institutional investors weigh how onchain solutions fit with existing custody, settlement and prudential frameworks across the UK and Europe. The company’s progress will offer an early read on whether market participants will trade more actively in tokenised private credit and how that might shift capital recycling for non-bank lenders.
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