Two former Blackstone professionals Connor Dougherty and Lily Yarborough have closed a $25 million round to digitize private credit, betting blockchain can unlock faster and more transparent lending.
The seed round was led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Susquehanna’s crypto arm, Maven11, and TeraWulf founders, Fortune reported Monday. The company declined to disclose its valuation.
Dougherty and Yarborough are building their startup, Valinor, a gateway between traditional finance and crypto.
The duo, who began their careers as analysts at banks before joining Blackstone’s private credit arm, believe private credit is the next major category to move onchain, and one where blockchain technology can deliver immediate efficiency gains.
Valinor started by lending to crypto-native companies but soon realized blockchain could transform the entire lending process. Instead of relying on spreadsheets and manual oversight, smart contracts automate approvals, payments, and compliance.
Dougherty said Valinor wants to move beyond crypto-collateralized lending into “real economy credit.” The company has already issued loans to select clients and will expand lending and staffing with its latest funding.
From stock exchanges to banks, Wall Street is accelerating its move toward tokenization across core financial products.
The New York Stock Exchange, in partnership with BlackRock-backed Securitize, is developing a 24/7 tokenized securities platform, aiming to enable continuous trading and onchain settlement, as well as cut operational risks.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has advocated for tokenization as a way to transform financial markets, improve infrastructure, and broaden access to investing.
According to Fink, blockchain and digital wallets could simplify holding, trading, and issuing assets, making investment opportunities more widely available.