YO Labs Secures $10 Million in Series A to Scale Cross-Chain Yield Optimization
YO Labs, the development team behind the cross-chain crypto yield optimization platform YO Protocol, has successfully closed a $10 million Series A funding round.The financing was led by prominent venture capital firm Foundation Capital, with key participation from Coinbase Ventures, Scribble Ventures, and Launchpad Capital.This latest injection of capital, announced on Sunday, December 14, 2025, brings the company's total funding raised to date to $24 million, positioning it for significant expansion in the decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure space.
Strategic Capital for Cross-Chain Expansion
The new funds are specifically earmarked for two primary goals: scaling the YO Protocol across additional blockchains and enhancing the core infrastructure and risk management systems.YO Protocol's core mission is to help users earn yield on their crypto assets by automatically rebalancing capital across multiple DeFi protocols.Unlike most DeFi yield aggregators that are confined to a single blockchain, YO Protocol is engineered to operate across chains, dynamically allocating capital to wherever the risk-adjusted yield is most favorable.
The protocol's proprietary vaults—including products like yoUSD, yoETH, and yoGOLD—are designed to minimize reliance on traditional, and often vulnerable, cross-chain bridges.Instead of constantly moving funds, YO Labs establishes "embassies" or independent native asset vaults on each blockchain.This unique architecture significantly mitigates the security vulnerabilities commonly associated with transferring assets between disparate chains, a crucial differentiator in the current multichain environment.
Innovation in Risk-Adjusted Yield
A core innovation driving investor interest is the protocol’s calculation of "Risk Adjusted Yield," a metric derived from the team's background in building comprehensive risk ratings for DeFi pools. The system utilizes a complex 'DeFi Graph' to manage active risks, especially during periods of market volatility or protocol failures. This graph monitors dependencies up to five levels deep, enabling the protocol to trigger automated withdrawals if a pool is indirectly exposed to a failing asset, a critical security feature against what the company's co-founder calls "Armageddon scenarios."
The Series A funding positions YO Protocol not just as a consumer application, but as core infrastructure for fintech companies, crypto wallets, and developers looking to seamlessly embed sustainable and risk-managed yield into their own products.This focus on building institutional-grade yield infrastructure is expected to accelerate broader adoption of decentralized finance by regulated entities and larger financial applications.The strong investor base, including Coinbase Ventures, signals significant industry confidence in YO Labs's technology and its potential to become a foundational layer for secure cross-chain capital allocation.