Lombard Systems raises $4M to make tokenized assets usable as collateral
What's the deal? Lombard Systems, previously known as SemiLiquid/PCPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has raised $4 million in seed funding to standardize financing for tokenized assets. Ethereal VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → led the round, with participation from Alps Capital, First Commit Capital, Veris VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and AtkaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? The Dubai- and New York-based company created the Delivery-versus-Lock (DvL) standard, which lets institutions use tokenized and digital assets as collateral without moving them from their existing securities accounts. Assets stay locked in the holder's name at a custodian, broker-dealer, or transfer agent, while the lender gets a legally enforceable security interest via a cryptographically signed Credit Receipt.
Why now? Securities are being tokenized at scale: the Depository Trust Company's tokenization service began operating in October 2026, and the SEC has granted conditional relief for venues trading tokenized US stocks. But holders still cannot borrow against those assets with the legal enforceability institutions require.
What's the money for? The funding will support institutional adoption, including legal opinions in the US, England, Wales, and five further jurisdictions, more Control Locations, expanded integrations, and team growth. Lombard plans its first institutional deployment by the end of 2026, with bank, broker-dealer, and transfer agent integrations to follow.
"Origination and enforcement of loans against tokenized collateral have to be as fast as the assets can move, while staying grounded in existing securities law," said Rico van der Veen, co-founder and chief executive officer. "That is what turns tokenized assets into usable collateral."
At $4 million, the round sits in the top 10% of all-time seed rounds in the United Arab Emirates, based on a sample of 1,286 deals.
The signal: Institutional tokenization is moving beyond issuance into collateral and financing — DTCC's tokenization service launched in October with 20 firms signed up, and BNYDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Citadel SecuritiesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → recently completed a tokenized Treasury financing transaction. Lombard's standard for pledging assets without moving them is timely, but the round is modest; its significance will hinge on whether planned deployments turn into adoption.
Read more: prnewswire.com
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