Lombard Systems Raises $4 Million for Tokenized Collateral

By Olivia Hart

Lombard Systems raised $4 million across pre-seed and seed funding rounds led by Ethereal Ventures to develop collateral infrastructure for tokenized securities. Alps Capital, First Commit Capital, Veris Ventures, Atka and other investors participated.

The capital will support DvL adoption, including legal analysis and institutional integrations. The announcement omitted a valuation and each investor's commitment.

How does DvL collateral work?

Lombard Systems previously operated under the SemiLiquid/PCP name. The company develops technology and legal frameworks intended to modernize secured financing involving digital assets. It describes tokenization as representing securities and other financial assets through digital records, with potential for more efficient transfers and settlement.

The Delivery-versus-Lock, or DvL, standard lets financial institutions use tokenized assets as loan collateral without transferring them from existing securities accounts. Under the proposed structure, assets stay in accounts maintained by custodians, broker-dealers or transfer agents while serving as collateral for a financing arrangement.

The lender receives a security interest documented through a cryptographically signed Credit Receipt. Borrowers retain beneficial ownership of the pledged assets. Agreed enforcement procedures govern delivery of amounts owed after a default has been validated.

Lombard Systems said DvL seeks to address the gap between the growing availability of tokenized securities and traditional collateral-lending infrastructure. The practical proposition is simple: lend against tokenized assets while the assets stay in existing securities accounts.

Can the framework produce enforceable rights?

Lombard Systems said DvL must support loan origination and enforcement on the same timescale as tokenized assets. Rico Van Der Veen, co-founder and CEO of Lombard Systems, said:

“Tokenized stocks and funds are scaling now. 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.”

“DvL keeps assets in their existing securities accounts and gives lenders enforceable rights, with enforcement agreed upfront. That is what turns tokenized assets into usable collateral.”

Lombard Systems said secured financing involving tokenized assets can still require complicated legal documentation, custody changes and manual enforcement. Its DvL proposal seeks to avoid those frictions by keeping assets in place and agreeing enforcement terms upfront.

That assurance depends on more than code, Lombard Systems said. The company intends to support DvL through technical infrastructure and legal opinions establishing how the framework operates under applicable securities and financing laws.

New capital will fund legal analysis in the United States, England, Wales and five additional jurisdictions. The announcement omitted the five additional jurisdictions and any legal opinions. The enforceability claim therefore rests on a developing framework, not a disclosed set of completed opinions.

Plainly, DvL needs legal validation as well as functioning code. The announcement did not disclose a budget or completion date for that legal work.

What can institutions finance with DvL?

Lombard Systems is designing the platform for several applications. Its intended uses span several forms of secured finance:

• Lombard loans
• Margin lending
• Financing backed by tokenized money market funds and stocks
• Securities lending
• Collateral arrangements involving uncleared derivatives

Financial institutions can adopt the technology through white-label integrations within their existing systems or through technology partners, according to the company. Lombard Systems also plans to expand institutional integrations and relationships with organizations capable of maintaining collateral under DvL.

The announcement named no banks, securities firms, asset managers or technology partners. Intended use is broad, but institutional demand remains unproven in the disclosure.

When will institutions see DvL in production?

Lombard Systems targets its first institutional deployment by the end of 2026. It expects to publish the complete DvL standard during the first quarter of 2027.

The schedule places the first deployment before the planned complete publication of the standard. The company presented both dates as targets, not as contracted milestones.

The company is based in Dubai and New York. Lombard Systems said the financing supports its effort to establish standardized collateral arrangements as banks, securities firms and asset managers evaluate tokenized financial instruments. Eeshaan Sachatheva, co-chief investment officer at Ethereal Ventures, said:

“Tokenization is creating real opportunities for financial institutions in trading and settlement, with significant potential to extend those benefits into financing. Lombard Systems is building a critical piece of that infrastructure with DvL, a standardized framework for financing tokenized assets.”

Backing from a lead investor supports development but does not prove demand. The announcement omitted revenue, customer commitments, pricing, collateral volume and a forecast. The end-2026 target is the next test of whether DvL can convert legal design into usable institutional collateral.