YieldClub, a Washington, DC-based fintech startup, has raised $2.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Pharsalus, Flex Capital, The House Fund, and Superlayer, with angels including Kevin Chou, Sam Shank, Charlie Songhurst, and early Solana contributors. Co-founders Mahesh Vellanki (CEO) and Michael Li (CTO) - veterans of Rally and Kabam - built YieldClub to bring the benefits of DeFi to everyday users through a non-custodial, high-yield savings app.

The funds will fuel its public launch and expansion efforts, including support for fiat-to-stablecoin onramps, a debit card feature, and a growing ecosystem of DeFi yield strategies offering up to 12% APY. The app officially launches June 23 on iOS and Android.

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DeFi with a Consumer UX

YieldClub strips away the complexity of traditional DeFi protocols. Instead of wallets, gas fees, and manual staking, users get a mobile app where they can deposit funds, earn stablecoin yields, and withdraw at will - while maintaining non-custodial control. “DeFi offers yields far outpacing traditional savings, but accessing them has been unnecessarily complex,” said co-founder Mahesh Vellanki. “We’ve distilled sophisticated DeFi yield strategies into an incredibly simple and secure mobile app.”

That simplicity isn’t an aesthetic choice - it’s the product. YieldClub is betting that mainstream users don’t want to become their own banks. They just want the benefits DeFi offers - without the technical burden.

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The Leverage Layer: Abstract the Infrastructure

As the product evolved, the team realized they weren’t just building a better savings experience. They were building an abstraction layer between users and an entirely new financial backend. And this is where the insight for founders crystalizes - YieldClub didn’t just build a DeFi savings app. They created a user interface that absorbs the complexity of decentralized finance while keeping the user fully in control.

Too many startups in crypto or AI or climate try to impress with depth. But in markets still finding product-market clarity, it’s not the smartest backend that wins - it’s the clearest front-end. When you wrap a complex system in a UI that feels familiar, intuitive, and safe, adoption compounds. It’s not about showing users how powerful the system is. It’s about hiding that power until it feels natural.

And this is the strategic move that turns products into rails: when you abstract infrastructure well enough, your product stops competing on features and starts defining the user standard. That’s the inflection point founders should chase - not novelty, but inevitability.

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Early Traction and Investor Confidence

Investors quickly bought into this approach. “YieldClub has cracked the code on making DeFi truly consumer-friendly,” said Auren Hoffman of Flex Capital. “They’re perfectly positioned to bring the benefits of DeFi yield to the mainstream.”

The team’s ability to move quickly with precision has already earned it strong endorsements. In addition to its institutional backers, angel investors with backgrounds in gaming, fintech, and Web3 have joined, signaling that YieldClub is building for a broad consumer horizon - not a niche crypto audience.

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What’s Next: Card, Coverage, and Global Reach

With its public launch imminent, YieldClub plans to:

• Deploy a debit card backed by yield-earning stablecoin balances
  
• Expand its yield engine to include more diversified and tokenized assets
  
• Improve onramps for emerging markets where bank yields are negative or inflation exceeds 30%
  
• Grow product and compliance teams to scale globally
  

As they do, YieldClub is positioning itself as not just a savings app - but a new standard in permissionless, consumer-grade financial infrastructure.

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Why It Matters

As central banks taper rates and fintech incumbents offer 1–2% APY at best, demand for yield will outpace supply in traditional markets. YieldClub is poised to absorb that demand - offering 6–12% yields, daily liquidity, and true ownership.

And by designing for familiarity, not just functionality, they’re giving non-technical users a way into DeFi without the risk of going it alone. The best infrastructure, after all, is the kind that feels invisible - until you try living without it.