Decentralized finance (DeFi) removes central authorities using blockchain, smart contracts, distributed computing, and more to create transparent, efficient, and accessible financial systems. However, this causes challenges like liquidity fragmentation, security vulnerabilities, and regulatory uncertainties. Solutions such as liquidity aggregation protocols and cross-chain bridges address liquidity issues while advanced security measures mitigate risks and protect user funds. Likewise, the 10 new decentralized finance companies featured in this article address specific issues and enable efficient transactions. Read on to explore all of their solutions and learn how you can benefit from them. We updated this report 5 days ago. Missing information? Contact us to add your insights.
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Key Takeaways
Drawing insights from the Big Data & AI-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform that provides data on over 4.7+ million emerging companies globally, we explore the evolving landscape of decentralized finance. This sector is marked by key trends and a substantial workforce, shaping its future. Here are some key insights at a glance:
- Latest Decentralized Finance Trends: The latest decentralized finance trends include cross-chain interoperability, crypto bridges, decentralized oracles, zero-knowledge proofs, and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.
- Decentralized Finance Market Stats: The global decentralized finance sector encompasses 15.4K+ organizations and has about 43.8K employees in its workforce. The DeFi domain is experiencing a massive annual growth rate of 57.52% and has seen the emergence of 6.4K+ new DeFi companies & startups in the past five years. Each of these companies employs about 20 people.
- 10 New DeFi Startups to Watch:
- Rumi Finance – Permissionless DeFi Protocol
- RioDeFi – TradFi & DeFi Bridge
- DFX Finance – Fiat-backed Stablecoins
- Elk Finance – Cross-Chain Infrastructure Framework
- Simplefi – DeFi Data Analytics
- Safi Protocol – DeFi-based Renewable Energy Trading
- Deliq Finance – Decentralized Market-Making Protocol
- Astella Finance – Quant Theory-based DeFi Investments
- ASPIS – DeFi Asset Management
- Quiq Claim – Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Insurance Settlement
Discover 10 out of 6.4K+ Emerging Decentralized Finance Companies
In this section, we highlight 10 new decentralized finance companies that address scalability issues and growing user demands. By using blockchain, decentralized oracles, cross-chain interoperability, and more, these companies reshape the financial ecosystem. Moreover, they offer transparent, efficient, and accessible financial services without relying on traditional intermediaries.
Note on Signal Strength
One of the unique metrics we feature for each company is Signal Strength, a proprietary data point generated by our Discovery Platform. It gauges the extent to which a company’s influence has permeated the global ecosystem of startups, scaleups, and emerging companies. This proprietary metric serves as a valuable guidepost for understanding a company’s standing in the broader market landscape.
1. Rumi Finance
- Founding Year: 2023
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: Portugal
- Signal Strength: Medium Strong
- What they do: Rumi Finance develops a permissionless DeFi protocol to provide risk-adjusted leveraged yield strategies for different blockchains. The protocol features Rumi Prime, a lending module to lend crypto assets and earn passive income without fees. It also provides automated hedge vaults that employ delta-neutral leveraged strategies on Uniswap V3 and GMX. The protocol simplifies DeFi complexity into user-friendly tools as well as features strategy backtesting, automated rebalancing, and liquidity management. Further, the company’s Strategy Factory allows businesses to design composable yield strategies using on-chain DeFi primitives and integrates pre-vetted protocols. As a result, these solutions offer a secure solution for both DeFi native and institutional investors and provide access to different investment strategies and management tools.
2. RioDeFi
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 11-50
- Location: Singapore
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: RioDeFi provides RioChain, a public blockchain network for cross-chain DeFi services. It builds on the parity substrate framework and is compatible with the Polkadot network. RioChain’s architecture verifies parachain state transitions for registration on relay chains. Its Virtual Machine Interpreter further supports web assembly and customizable consensus algorithms. The network also includes Rio Wallet which allows access to payment systems for withdrawing fiat from crypto accounts. In this way, the company’s network bridges centralized and decentralized financial systems for cross-chain transactions.
3. DFX Finance
- Founding Year: 2020
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: Australia
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: DFX Finance offers a decentralized exchange (DeX) protocol on Ethereum for fiat-backed stablecoins. The protocol utilizes real-world foreign exchange (FX) price feeds to optimize trades for stablecoins like United States dollar coins (USDC), Canadian dollar coins (CADC), STASIS Euro (EURS), and Singapore dollar stablecoin (XSGD). Additionally, the protocol integrates with existing DeFi ecosystems and its bonding curve mechanism ensures hyper-efficient trades with minimal slippage and optimized capital utilization.
4. Elk Finance
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 11-50
- Location: Switzerland
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: Elk Finance’s ElkNet is a decentralized cross-chain infrastructure framework. It enables asset movement and decentralized app (dApp) development in multiple blockchains. The framework utilizes a reservoir system to eliminate fragmentation and token availability issues to for tokens to become native on supported chains. Elk Finance’s bridge-as-a-service (BaaS) software development kit (SDK) enables developers to offer cross-chain tokens and bridges while maintaining high security through validator networks and autonomous smart contracts. BaaS supports wrapped and synthetic tokens in various chains to optimize liquidity management with minimal smart contract risks.
5. Simplefi
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: UK
- Signal Strength: Strong
- What they do: Simplefi provides an open-source, multichain DeFi data analytics platform. It offers advanced, comparable data for decentralized exchanges, borrowing, staking, and perpetual protocols via a unified API. The platform’s modular engine enables developers to self-host their data and select which chains and protocols to track. This allows them to bootstrap databases while improving flexibility and control.
6. Safi Protocol
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 51-100
- Location: Kenya
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: Safi Protocol bridges the global liquidity gap in the energy sector by tokenizing qualified real-world clean energy projects. The company’s platform leverages DeFi to provide stable yields with competitive, risk-adjusted returns. It connects investors with borrowers to streamline financing while making clean energy accessible to global communities. Further, the platform facilitates investment in ESG markets and ensures fundamentals-driven, non-speculative yields. This approach increases clean energy adoption, reduces reliance on fossil fuels, and mitigates climate change impacts. Investors gain access to a diversified portfolio of renewable energy assets with reduced overall risk and enhanced return stability.
7. Deliq Finance
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: India
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: Deliq Finance provides a decentralized solution that improves liquidity for the DeFi ecosystem. The company’s Liquidity by Staking (LBS) model allows protocols to bootstrap liquidity without capital-inefficient liquidity mining or centralized market makers. It also powers deep liquidity for exchanges, money markets, and new DeFi protocols as well as ensures near-zero slippage trades. Moreover, the solution supports sustainable liquidity flow across various chains, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, and Avalanche.
8. Astella Finance
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 2-10
- Location: USA
- Signal Strength: Medium Strong
- What they do: Astella Finance’s DeFi platform leverages options quant theory to address impermanent loss protection and provide DeFi options trading. The company combines quant algorithms with traditional finance and DeFi elements to offer its financial products – dual investment, impermanent loss protection, and tokenomics. Dual investment advances the limit order spot trading and liquidity staking while the impermanent loss protection feature uses delta-neutral, high-return algorithms to enhance yield farming. Astella’s tokenomics uses a mathematically driven deflationary model that features mint and burn mechanisms. These mechanisms are based on total value locked (TVL) and quant models to ensure supply and price stability. The company’s solutions target traders and liquidity providers seeking higher returns and reduced risks.
9. ASPIS
- Founding Year: 2021
- Employee Range: 11-50
- Location: Georgia
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: ASPIS offers AI-powered DeFi asset management through permissionless infrastructure. The company’s solution sets onboarding terms such as lockup periods, deposit ranges, and accepted currencies while launching the on-chain vault. This allows the collection of performance, management, entrance, and exit fees to offer a comprehensive fee structure. The solution also ensures transparency and control by recording all terms and history on-chain. Moreover, it enables developers to connect wallets, browse funds, sign smart contracts, and deposit funds while receiving liquidity provider tokens. The management dashboard tracks real-time performance to improve decision-making. Thus, the company bridges the gap between traditional finance and DeFi with its autonomous on-chain funds for asset managers and investors.
10. Quiq Claim
- Founding Year: 2019
- Employee Range: 11-50
- Location: Jordan
- Signal Strength: Very Strong
- What they do: Quiq Claim’s peer-to-peer settlement and investment platform streamlines health claim financing marketplaces. It enables healthcare providers to post claims on day zero and obtain early financing at a discount. The platform also offers investors a return on investment (ROI) with minimal risk and enhances the attractiveness of investing in health claims. Insurance providers receive a comprehensive transaction overview which reduces logistics and paperwork. By connecting healthcare providers, investors, and insurance companies, the platform promotes transparency and efficiency in the medical insurance sector.
Quick Tip to Find New Decentralized Finance Companies
Utilizing a SaaS platform like the Discovery Platform for identifying new DeFi solutions provides significant benefits compared to traditional scouting methods:
- Increased Efficiency: The Discovery Platform offers advanced tools that streamline the scouting process. It replaces your hours of conventional desk research, saving time and resources in identifying DeFi innovations.
- Access to Real-time Insights: Gain a competitive edge with up-to-date information on the latest trends in decentralized finance. The platform keeps you informed with near real-time updates on emerging DeFi companies and news, enabling you to make swift and informed decisions.
- Tailored Exploration: Customize your search to focus on specific niches within the DeFi sector, such as fiat-backed stablecoins, traditional finance and DeFi bridge, or chain interoperability. The platform’s diverse filtering options allow you to target your scouting efforts precisely, ensuring that you find the most relevant and groundbreaking companies in the field.
Ready to Explore All New DeFi Companies?
We’ve explored the dynamic landscape of the DeFi sector, examining the latest trends and spotlighting exceptional companies driving innovation. To dive deeper, download our free FinTech Report or schedule a demo of the Discovery Platform for a customized exploration of these groundbreaking developments. Have expertise in startups or technology? Your input can enrich our content — consider collaborating with us!
