Jia

Jia is a DeFi platform focused on emerging markets, providing working capital loans to small and micro businesses that are often overlooked by traditional banks. Its core business is invoice financing: businesses upload unpaid invoices, and Jia advances up to 90% of the invoice value within 24 hours. Loan amounts range up to $5,000, with terms up to six months and monthly interest rates between 2% and 6%.

Jia's key competitive edge lies in its AI underwriting engine, Ossicone. Trained on three years of proprietary Philippine SME lending data, it returns credit decisions in under 30 minutes. This allows Jia to assess a business's real cash flow rather than relying on traditional credit scores or tax records, which many emerging-market SMEs lack.

The market pain point is clear: emerging-market SMEs face an estimated $8 trillion credit gap. Traditional banks require lengthy applications, collateral, and strong credit history, while many small businesses operate informally and cannot meet these requirements. Jia solves this by using real-time transaction data and invoice quality as alternative credit signals.

In the past six months (March to September 2026), Jia has made significant progress. It partnered with Netbank, a BSP-regulated bank, marking the first time Jia opened its lending infrastructure to an external institution. Netbank extended a $2 million credit facility to fund loans for up to 500 SMEs over 12 months, and is powering Jia Accounts, a new business banking product for Philippine SMEs. Jia also launched Ossicone via API and white-label solutions for banks, cooperatives, and other lenders across the region.

As of mid-2026, Jia has originated over $20 million in loans since 2022, with non-performing loans held under 2% against a 10-15% industry average, and no write-offs to date. However, like all DeFi lending platforms, Jia faces regulatory uncertainty in emerging markets and exposure to cryptocurrency volatility, which could affect its operations.