UAE-based financial AI platform Oro has raised $3 million in a strategic funding round as it seeks to simplify access to decentralised finance through artificial intelligence and expand its reach globally.
The round was co-led by MH Ventures and Mapleblock Capital, with participation from M2M Capital, Archer Capital and X21 Digital, alongside follow-on backing from Disrupt.com and ZIGLabs.
The latest investment brings Oro’s total funding since its 2024 launch to $4 million, providing capital for technology development, hiring, regulatory compliance and user acquisition.
Founded by Varun Choudhary, Oro uses natural-language AI to convert users’ financial instructions into multi-step transactions across DeFi protocols while maintaining a non-custodial, user-authorised model.
The company says it has already onboarded more than 350,000 active users across over 80 languages.
Oro’s AI seeks to simplify complex DeFi transactions
At the heart of Oro’s proposition is an attempt to make complicated decentralised financial services easier for ordinary users.
DeFi platforms often require users to understand wallets, protocols, tokens, transaction routes and several approval processes before completing a single financial objective.
Oro seeks to remove much of that complexity by allowing users to express their desired financial outcome in ordinary language. Its AI then interprets that instruction and translates it into a sequence of transactions across supported protocols.
The company describes this as a shift from static conversational AI towards “user-authorised, intent-based execution.”
Rather than just explaining how a transaction can be completed, Oro is designed to determine the necessary route and facilitate execution after receiving the user’s authorisation.
According to CEO Varun Choudhary, the company is “witnessing a monumental shift toward intent-based execution.”
Non-custodial model keeps users in control
A major feature of Oro’s platform is its non-custodial approach, which the company says allows users to retain control of their digital assets throughout the transaction process.
Not only taking custody of users’ funds and independently moving them between different platforms, Oro says transactions remain user-authorised and user-signed.
This distinction is important in the digital-asset industry, where users can face significant security risks when handing control of their assets to third parties.
Oro says its technology is intended to bridge sophisticated financial infrastructure with broader consumer accessibility without removing users from the approval process.
MH Ventures Portfolio Manager, Keira Nesdale, described the model as an effort to address “one of the most persistent bottlenecks in modern finance, complexity,” adding that Oro combines the abstraction of backend processes with “policy-guarded non-custodial security.”
$3m funding to accelerate technology and expansion
Oro plans to deploy the newly raised $3 million across several areas of its business as it prepares for its next phase of growth.
A substantial portion of the capital will go towards artificial intelligence and agentic technology research and development, including improvements to its proprietary Shield Engine and natural-language execution stack.
The company also intends to strengthen its engineering, AI research and business development teams while expanding global marketing and user acquisition activities.
Regulatory and compliance infrastructure will receive attention as Oro develops what it describes as policy-guarded autonomous financial execution.
The company also plans to accelerate B2B integrations, enabling other businesses and protocols to potentially incorporate its technology.
Mapleblock Capital Managing Partner, Vijay Garg, said Oro had demonstrated “exceptional execution and organic user growth through challenging market cycles,” positioning the company for further expansion.
350k users and major DeFi integrations underpin growth
The funding announcement comes as Oro reports significant early traction, claiming more than 350,000 active users and support for over 80 languages. The company also highlighted several recent initiatives as evidence of user engagement.
An educational campaign backed by Amazon Web Services recorded more than 250,000 verified completions, while a live initiative with Ondo Finance generated more than 50,000 verified completions within its first 24 hours.
Oro has also integrated its technology with established DeFi protocols, including Morpho, Kamino, Lido, Aave, Uniswap and Raydium.
These integrations are central to Oro’s strategy because they provide the financial infrastructure through which its AI can potentially execute users’ instructions.
Choudhary argued that Oro had demonstrated genuine demand by “combining financial infrastructure with natural-language AI” to create a product that the company believes can appeal to mass-market users.
Oro’s ambitious 10 million-user target
Oro’s next objective is considerably larger, the company aims to reach 10 million active users within the next six to 12 months.
Achieving that target would require it to expand its current reported user base dramatically, making aggressive product development, marketing and partnerships essential.
To support the growth strategy, Oro plans to launch native iOS and Android applications, broaden its integration offerings and establish itself as an “intent routing layer” for third-party protocols serving both consumers and businesses.
The company is also finalising appointments for additional advisory board members with experience in AI and DeFi.
While the target reflects significant confidence, it also presents substantial challenges, including user retention, transaction security, regulatory compliance and the ability to scale reliably.
Oro’s success will ultimately depend on whether it can transform its early traction into sustainable, safe and widespread adoption.
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