Merso, an AI-first fintech infrastructure startup, has announced closure of a $3 million seed financing round, supported by founders and strategic investors. The platform just launched its AI-based lending stack purpose-built for digital assets, enabling real-time, asset-level credit that unlocks liquidity across Web3 gaming, tokenization platforms, and digital marketplaces.

Founded in August 2023 by David Pérez‑Iturralde, Merso spent two years training its proprietary AI engine on billions of on-chain transactions and behavior patterns. The result: a full lifecycle lending infrastructure that delivers automated risk scoring, dynamic loan terms, and zero-friction approval - without exposing issuer platforms to credit exposure.

Early traction includes over 50 Web3 game studios and publishers, many ranking among global top titles. Integration pilots report up to 40% higher conversion rates and 60% or more lift in average transaction size on high-ticket digital assets, all without requiring changes to tokenomics, smart contracts, or compliance frameworks.

Why Centering Loans Around Assets Is a Game-Changer

Traditional credit models pivot on borrower characteristics - credit history, identity, or application process. Merso reframes that foundation: credit decisions are built around the asset itself. This shift allows platforms to extend intelligent credit against NFTs, game assets, or tokenized real estate without underwriting personal borrower history.

The platform’s AI evaluates each asset in real time, assessing volatility, utility, trading behavior, and counterparty exposure to produce dynamic terms that adapt as market conditions shift. Borrower access becomes seamless, while asset owners gain liquidity without dilution or counterparty risk.

Merso’s strategy delivers more than new credit rails - it reshapes risk logic in decentralized economies. Too many fintech platforms focus on borrower identity; Merso fixed the lens on assets. Graduating from borrower defaults to asset behavior patterns reveals a far stronger lever for risk and liquidity.

Here’s the wider lesson: when your platform becomes the protocol that partners build around - not just the service they integrate - you lock in growth. Merso created a financial layer that digital asset platforms assume will exist beneath their UX, not a bolt-on feature. Early partners test conversion boosts, but stick because they rely on Merso’s underpinnings for frictionless credit in tokenized worlds.

That is durable defensibility. Once you own the asset layer - not identity - you’re no longer a module. You become the ledger.

Platform Architecture Built for Scale and Trust

Merso operates as an infra layer that integrates into existing token ecosystems, requiring no tokenomic rewrites or contract updates. Its compliance stack is both U.S. and EU-ready, streamlining adoption across regulated jurisdictions.

The team includes tech leaders from billion-dollar exits in traditional finance, underscoring its dual mastery of crypto-first infrastructure and real-world compliance demands.

Market Traction and Strategic Momentum

Initial partner studios report integration timelines measured in days - not months - and performance lifts without platform engineering overhead. One partner described Merso as “the simplest way to offer risk-managed credit on chain,” citing a 40% boost in high-ticket transactions within weeks of go-live.

That ease of adoption and rapid impact is what investors are favoring in fintech: platforms that monetize through usage, not take fees, and that don’t force rearchitecture of core systems.

Founding Vision and Next Steps

David Pérez‑Iturralde’s vision stems from borrowing deficiencies endemic to digital-assets: volatility, fragmentation, and risk opacity. By anchoring decisions in on-chain data and automating terms, the platform enables developers to embed credit as a composable element within their ecosystem - without friction for users or risk for issuers.

The company will use the fresh capital to:

• Scale engineering to support new gaming, tokenization, and DeFi integrations
  
• Expand analytics and risk product development
  
• Deepen compliance tooling for enterprise SaaS and financial partners
  
• Grow partnerships with top Web3 studios and marketplaces
  

Strategic hiring is underway across product, finance, and developer relations teams, positioning Merso to meet broad demand in asset-native sectors.

Why Merso’s Timely for AI, Web3, and Enterprise Stack Builders

As digital economies evolve, lenders and platforms are realizing that asset-backed credit must be fast, transparent, and composable. Merso raised capital at the perfect inflection point: when Web3 needs native liquidity tools that integrate seamlessly, and risk assumptions are changing around assets rather than identity.

By aligning business model with architecture - and automating liquidity through asset-first logic - Merso is doing more than lending. It’s building the infrastructure lawns on which future token economies will grow.