Superstate co-founder raises $3.6 million pre-seed for Ground to help fintechs access onchain yield

Ground, a new startup founded by Superstate co-founder Reid Cuming, has raised $3.6 million in a pre-seed funding round to help fintechs and asset managers access onchain yield products through an API.

Bain Capital Crypto and ParaFi co-led the round, with participation from Nascent, Robot Ventures, Chapter One, and Consonant Ventures, Ground said Wednesday. Ground began fundraising in September 2025 and closed the round the following month, Cuming told The Block. The round was structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants, Cuming said, declining to disclose valuation. No investors received board seats, observer seats, or advisory roles as part of the round, he added.

Ground has also emerged from stealth and launched its platform. The startup offers an API that allows financial platforms to add onchain yield products without building their own blockchain integrations.

"Ground is building the platform that makes onchain finance accessible and embeddable," Cuming said. "As stablecoins and tokenization adoption increases outside the U.S. and within, there will be a need to do more than hold or spend but to earn, to grow, and invest."

Ground's target clients include fintechs, neobanks, wealth managers, exchanges, and asset managers building yield, savings, or investment products.

"The global asset management industry oversees more than $147 trillion, and there are trillions of dollars idling in pre-funded accounts, neobanks, and blockchain wallets. That is a massive untapped opportunity," Cuming said.

Embedding onchain finance

Ground said its API allows clients to access onchain yield strategies based on their risk and liquidity preferences. The platform currently supports crypto-native yield sources, including lending protocols, structured products, and, soon, liquid staking tokens, according to Cuming.

When asked what yield products are currently available, Cuming pointed to protocols including Aave, Morpho, Maple, and Kamino across Ethereum, Solana, and Layer 2 networks. He said Ground regularly adds new protocols and blockchains based on customer demand.

When asked about competitors, Cuming said most existing alternatives are crypto-native protocols, yield aggregators, or infrastructure providers built primarily for web3 users. He said many lack the transparency and configurability features required by fintechs and traditional financial institutions.

Parth Chopra, partner at Bain Capital Crypto, said fintechs and institutions are increasingly looking beyond stablecoins and tokenization toward onchain credit markets that can offer higher yields and lower borrowing costs.

"This is not at all easy to do today," Chopra said. He added that Bain Capital Crypto invested in Ground because it is building infrastructure that gives fintech developers secure and compliant access to a range of onchain credit products.

As for its business model, Ground plans to generate revenue through usage-based platform fees, according to Cuming.

Ground is based in San Francisco and has three full-time employees, including the founders, along with one contractor. Cuming said Ground expects to hire between two and four additional employees across engineering, go-to-market, and potentially legal and operations roles.

Ground was co-founded by Cuming, who previously co-founded tokenization startup Superstate and served as vice president and general manager of Compound Treasury, alongside chief technology officer Sam Yoon. Yoon previously served as technical CEO of Braid, where he worked on stablecoin infrastructure, and also led product and engineering efforts at HiFi.

Cuming said he remains a board member and senior advisor at Superstate but is no longer involved in the firm's day-to-day operations.

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