PayFi RWA startup Dow Protocol raises $9M seed to fund e-commerce working capital

Dow Protocol has raised a $9 million seed round to build a PayFi RWA structure targeting e-commerce working capital, the team announced on X.

MH Ventures, OKX Ventures, Animoca Brands, Arcane Group, Essentia Partners and Quartet Group backed the round. Valuation and deal structure were not disclosed.

Dow Protocol finances merchants against pending platform receivables and credit risk data, aiming to replace the typical 14–28 day payout cycle on major e-commerce platforms.

The protocol works with asset servicers that advance funds to merchants, then recoups capital via native integrations into large e-commerce platforms, where repayments are automatically deducted from merchants’ platform balances.

The company says its model enables instant cross-border settlement and same-day funding decisions by using platform-integrated data for risk analysis, compared with 2–3 month timelines for traditional financing.

Dow Protocol is targeting what it describes as a $2.8 trillion working capital market, arguing that merchants are willing to pay premium interest for faster, more flexible funding and that programmable on-chain loan terms can simplify default handling and accounting complexity.