How Jia Uses AI and Blockchain Liquidity to Finance Small Businesses in the Philippines

This mismatch between demand and supply has created an opportunity for fintech lenders that can assess risk differently and move capital more efficiently.

What Jia Is Building

Founded by Zach Marks and Cheng Cheng, both alumni of financial‑inclusion fintech Tala, Jia positions itself as a financial operating system for small businesses in emerging markets.

The platform’s first core product is invoice and supply‑chain financing. Businesses can submit invoices and receive advances—often in less than 24 hours—with repayment terms ranging from a single day to several months.

The idea is to help SMEs turn unpaid invoices into immediate working capital, improving cash flow and allowing them to continue operating and growing.

How the Model Works

Jia’s approach combines two main technologies.

1. AI‑Driven Credit Underwriting

Traditional banks often rely on rigid credit scores or collateral requirements. Jia instead uses AI‑based underwriting models designed to analyze alternative signals—such as transaction data and business activity—to assess creditworthiness.

This allows the platform to evaluate businesses that might otherwise be rejected by conventional lenders.

2. Blockchain Liquidity Pools

On the funding side, Jia taps blockchain‑based liquidity to supply capital for loans. Early funding rounds included a dedicated commitment for on‑chain liquidity, allowing global investors to provide capital that is ultimately deployed as working‑capital loans for SMEs.

In practical terms, the system aims to convert global digital capital into local currency lending for businesses in emerging markets.

Traction So Far

Jia is still an early‑stage startup, but it has reported several growth milestones:

• More than 15,000 invoices financed for small businesses.
• About $1 million in monthly loan originations, growing roughly 10% month‑over‑month.
• Loan‑loss rates reportedly far below industry averages, according to company disclosures.

Earlier reporting also noted the platform serving over 2,000 small business owners and surpassing $2 million in total originations across markets including the Philippines and Kenya.

These figures suggest the company is moving beyond pilot stages toward a scalable lending operation, although independent public data on default rates and portfolio performance remains limited.

Funding and Investors

Jia has raised several rounds of early‑stage funding to build and expand its platform.

Key milestones include:

• $4.3 million seed round (2023) led by TCG Crypto, with participation from BlockTower, Hashed Emergent, Saison Capital, and Global Coin Research.
• $1 million additional commitment specifically allocated for on‑chain liquidity pools.
• $3 million seed round (2026) led by Coinbase Ventures, with investors including Stellar Development Foundation and A100x, alongside follow‑on participation from TCG and Hashed Emergent.

Together, these rounds bring Jia’s total funding to about $7.3 million.

Building a Financial Operating System for SMEs

While invoice financing is the initial entry point, Jia’s long‑term vision is broader.

The company plans to expand into a full financial stack for small businesses, potentially including:

• working‑capital lending
• payments and cross‑border transactions
• cash‑flow management tools
• integrated supply‑chain financing

The goal is to give SMEs a single platform for financial operations—while using AI and blockchain infrastructure to move capital more efficiently than traditional banking systems.

If successful, Jia’s model could help unlock financing for businesses that form the backbone of many emerging economies but remain chronically underserved by conventional lenders.