Vault, a fintech that sought to let traditional lenders accept a borrower’s liquid financial assets as collateral on standard consumer loans, is shutting down after almost two years.
Co-founder and CEO Mike Taormina announced the decision in a LinkedIn post. The idea was that borrowers would keep their assets and get better terms, while lenders would get better-performing loans.
Taormina said the company built the product, integrated with a qualified custodian, and launched the concept with a lender. But Vault needed more hard data to de-risk the venture for later investment, and sales cycles with large regulated lenders outlasted its cash runway.
Taormina thanked co-founders Nathan Howard and Nikhil Nayab, along with investors, advisors, team members, lenders and partners. He previously co-founded student lender CommonBond and Ethereum liquid staking developer Alluvial. In a recent podcast appearance, he described Vault as his fourth venture.d