Birch Hill Raises $4 Million for Blockchain Lending
The firm is moving apartment and energy loans onto the blockchain, targeting accredited investors for its new USDC vault.
Updated on Oct. 28, 2026 in Investing
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Birch Hill has secured $4 million in a new seed funding round to expand its blockchain-based lending platform. The startup, which focuses on tokenizing real-world assets like energy and agricultural loans, is now offering a new investment vault on the Base blockchain for accredited investors.
Why it matters
By moving traditional asset-backed lending onto public blockchains, the company aims to eliminate financial intermediaries in the multifamily, energy, and farm lending sectors. This shift seeks to lower costs and streamline the process of securitizing loans, directly affecting how specialized real-world debt assets are packaged for investors.
Birch Hill raised $4 million in a seed funding round, following a previous $2.5 million pre-seed raise. This capital supports the new Birch Hill RWA USDC Vault, which is currently limited to accredited investors.
The players
Bhavin Vaid
The CEO of Birch Hill.
Connor Flanagan
The COO of Birch Hill.
Multicoin Capital
An investment firm that led the seed funding round for Birch Hill.
The details
The firm securitizes loans by bundling individual debt products into a single investable unit, which is then made available via the Base blockchain. Its new vault utilizes Morpho lending infrastructure and Yearn v3 standards to manage liquidity, requiring borrowers to post GRO tokens as collateral. By tokenizing real-world assets like GromaREIT exposure, the platform enables the use of these holdings as collateral for USDC loans.
Timeline
Birch Hill closed its $4 million seed round on October 28, 2026.
Money Landscape
The adoption of blockchain-based lending on the Base blockchain represents a significant move to digitize traditional securitization processes. This development follows a period of increasing interest in tokenized real-world assets, which aim to replace manual intermediary processes with automated code.
This platform is restricted to accredited investors, so most household savers will not have direct access to these specific blockchain-based vaults. Those who qualify should consult a tax or financial professional to understand the unique risks of lending against tokenized assets before allocating capital.
The takeaway
Blockchain infrastructure is increasingly being used to securitize loans for energy, farms, and apartment buildings. Investors interested in this emerging space should monitor the evolution of tokenization standards for real-world assets, as these products involve complex collateral mechanics.
Further reading
For more on the risks and potential rewards of digital assets, visit our Investing section.
Live Poll
Would you consider investing in loans backed by real-world assets on a public blockchain?
