Hard Yaka

Hard Yaka is an investment firm based in Crystal Bay, Nevada, founded in 2010. It pursues technology investments across private equity and venture capital, including buyouts and distressed opportunities, and it frequently seeks majority stakes. The firm focuses on digital transformation infrastructure, including portable identity, payments, marketplaces, and regtech, and also backs early-stage opportunities in exchange space startups, targeting verticals within exchange markets as well as horizontals such as messaging and payments across exchange sectors.

Pep Gomez

Partner

Jun Hiraga

Managing Partner

Kevin Leiske JD

Partner

Margaret Slemmer

Investor

Katie Sullivan

Partner

Past deals in Lending

Goin

Series A in 2025
Goin is a mobile application that enhances users' financial health by layering innovative saving, investing, and smart-shopping tools onto traditional banking services.

Huma

Venture Round in 2024
Huma is a fintech company that operates a decentralized finance platform for lending. It connects businesses and individuals seeking loans with global financing options by using tokens as collateral.

Goin

Seed Round in 2021
Goin is a mobile application that enhances users' financial health by layering innovative saving, investing, and smart-shopping tools onto traditional banking services.

ZELF

Pre Seed Round in 2021
ZELF is a neobank fintech company dedicated to providing accessible financial services to younger generations. Operating in both the EU and the US, ZELF integrates banking functionalities into popular social messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Discord, Telegram, and Viber. The company aims to simplify monetary transactions by offering features such as AI-powered voice control, invoice creation, and tracking of unpaid invoices, allowing users to manage their finances effortlessly. In June 2022, ZELF introduced its "Bank of the Metaverse" campaign, which combines game assets, NFTs, and fiat currency under a single banking platform, further enhancing its appeal to a tech-savvy audience.

Goin

Venture Round in 2020
Goin is a mobile application that enhances users' financial health by layering innovative saving, investing, and smart-shopping tools onto traditional banking services.

StandardC

Pre Seed Round in 2020
StandardC offers a modular platform for streamlined compliance processes across identity verification, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring. Serving various industries including banking, lending, and real estate, StandardC's transparent pay-per-use pricing model ensures accessibility to businesses of all sizes. The platform integrates seamlessly with enterprise software, minimizing disruptions while maximizing efficiency.

Cogni

Seed Round in 2019
Cogni is a New York-based company that develops a digital banking platform designed to enhance financial services for businesses across Europe. Formerly known as Bizbaze, Cogni offers multi-currency business accounts that integrate artificial intelligence-driven tools to streamline various financial activities. The platform employs machine learning to automate and simplify virtual payments, providing users with an intuitive interface that supports a range of financial transactions, including deposits and lifestyle-related bookings such as hotels and flights. By focusing on accessibility and transparency, Cogni aims to revolutionize the digital banking experience for its users, combining traditional finance with emerging technologies like decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens.

Cogni

Seed Round in 2018
Cogni is a New York-based company that develops a digital banking platform designed to enhance financial services for businesses across Europe. Formerly known as Bizbaze, Cogni offers multi-currency business accounts that integrate artificial intelligence-driven tools to streamline various financial activities. The platform employs machine learning to automate and simplify virtual payments, providing users with an intuitive interface that supports a range of financial transactions, including deposits and lifestyle-related bookings such as hotels and flights. By focusing on accessibility and transparency, Cogni aims to revolutionize the digital banking experience for its users, combining traditional finance with emerging technologies like decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens.

SMBX

Pre Seed Round in 2018
SMBX, Inc. is an online funding portal and public marketplace based in San Francisco, California, that facilitates the issuance and buying of small business bonds. Founded in 2016, the company enables small businesses to raise capital by offering bonds directly to the public, bypassing traditional banking channels and associated regulatory fees. SMBX focuses primarily on small business debt, particularly within the SBA loan market, providing an innovative alternative for businesses seeking financing. The company also operates a mobile application to enhance user accessibility and engagement. By connecting high-quality businesses with potential investors, SMBX aims to streamline the capital-raising process for small enterprises.

Cuenca

Seed Round in 2018
Cuenca is a fintech company that provides digital banking and payments services through online and mobile platforms. The business offers savings and deposit facilities, digital loan capabilities with real-time funding, and the ability to send and receive money. It supports paying bills and services, including utilities, and enables users to manage finances securely, either digitally or with a physical card. The platform aims to simplify everyday financial tasks by combining online banking, bill payment, and digital money transfers in one solution.

Upgrade

Series A in 2016
Upgrade operates an online lending platform offering personal loans, the Upgrade Card, credit health monitoring, and educational tools. It serves both mainstream consumers and those underserved by traditional banking, aiming to provide affordable and responsible credit access.

Kickpay

Seed Round in 2015
Kickpay Inc., established in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, operates an online marketplace that facilitates invoice trading. The company connects businesses with investors, allowing businesses to sell their outstanding invoices at a discount for immediate cash flow. This service enables companies, particularly those in the hardware sector, to access financing options previously unavailable, fostering faster growth by improving liquidity and reducing reliance on traditional lending sources.

Kueski

Seed Round in 2014
Founded in 2012, Kueski is a leading buy now, pay later (BNPL) and online consumer lending company based in Mexico. It offers financial services through its innovative product ecosystem, consisting of Kueski Pay for BNPL transactions and Kueski Cash for personal loans. The company uses artificial intelligence and big data to expand access to traditional financial products.

TradeBlock

Seed Round in 2014
TradeBlock Inc., established in 2013 and headquartered in New York, specializes in developing institutional trading tools for digital currencies. The company provides financial institutions with execution and analysis tools tailored to cryptocurrency markets, offering global market data insights on trading, regulations, mining, blockchain analysis, protocol updates, and economic developments. As of December 2020, TradeBlock operates as a subsidiary of CoinDesk LLC.

Kabbage

Series B in 2011
Kabbage is a financial technology company that provides small businesses with automated access to working capital through a 100% online lending platform. The platform uses business data such as revenue, accounting data, transactions, shipping, and other sources to assess health and calculate credit lines in real time, enabling applications, approvals, and funding decisions in minutes. It offers ongoing lines of credit and a purchasing card tied to the account for point-of-sale payments, along with a mobile app for on-the-go access and management. Kabbage began serving online merchants and expanded to all small businesses, including brick-and-mortar customers, and licenses its data and technology to power lending for other organizations.
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