August, an on-chain prime brokerage and execution platform, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by Dragonfly Ventures. Additional investors include SCB Limited, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Foresight Ventures and others. The funding will accelerate August’s mission to bridge institutional finance with DeFi by advancing its capital-efficient trading infrastructure.
The firm’s portfolio margin system allows institutions to use staked assets and yield-bearing positions as collateral for structured products, OTC derivatives, and credit. August also enhances cross-margining and capital efficiency, enabling clients to hedge DeFi portfolios while integrating with CeFi services through a single on-chain account.
As the financial industry undergoes a shift toward tokenization and decentralized infrastructure, August plays a crucial role in ensuring liquidity, risk transparency, and institutional-grade financial tools. With support for 12+ blockchains, 250+ tokens, and 70 protocols, the platform facilitates seamless cross-chain transactions.
“The events of 2022 following the collapse of large centralized finance counterparties, more liquidity and volume has moved on-chain over the past two years, demonstrating that transparency and risk management are non-negotiable,” said Aya Kantorovich, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of August. “August is setting a new standard for capital-efficient and institutionally viable digital asset trading.”
Industry leaders echo this sentiment. Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly Capital, commented: “FTX and 3AC didn’t collapse because of a lack of institutional interest in digital assets—they failed due to hidden risks and unmanageable counterparty exposure. August solves this by providing real-time risk measurement, programmatic collateral management, and transparent defaults.”
With this funding, August plans to enhance its prime brokerage capabilities, develop new financial products, and expand institutional partnerships. The platform already facilitates over $7 billion in monthly transaction volume across lending, DeFi, OTC transactions, and algorithmic swaps. Over the past year, it has originated more than $400 million in loans.
The company also recently rebranded to reinforce its focus on institutional-grade financial services. August's comprehensive on-chain toolkit includes multi-signature smart contracts, trade execution, borrowing and lending, structured products, tri-party collateral management, and cross-chain DeFi strategies.
Founded by Aya Kantorovich and Alexandre Elkrief, August provides institutional investors, trading firms, and protocols with an advanced suite of on-chain financial tools. One of its key innovations is Upshift, the first decentralized application built on August, with a total value locked (TVL) of $300 million.
“August combines the speed and composability of DeFi with the risk management tools required by the world’s largest institutions,” said Carl Vogel, General Partner at 6th Man Ventures. “Now, these benefits will be available to the public via Upshift. The future of finance is now.”
By embedding real-time risk visibility and automated collateral management, August eliminates the counterparty risks that have historically plagued centralized finance (CeFi). The platform is committed to ensuring secure and efficient capital markets for institutional traders, offering the next step in decentralized finance evolution.
August’s funding round saw participation from both new and returning investors, including:
The company’s institutional support highlights a broader industry movement toward trustless financial infrastructure that aligns with the needs of professional traders and asset managers.
