Zayra raises US$2.9 million to train professionals in Web3 and digital finance

Zayra, a Brazilian startup focused on education in Web3 and digital finance, raised R$15 million (approximately US$2.9 million) in a seed round to develop its technology platform and prepare professionals for the transformation of financial infrastructure.

Zayra bets on the new digital financial infrastructure

The relationship between Brazilian financial institutions and crypto assets has changed significantly over the past four years. Whereas banks previously restricted relationships with clients who moved cryptocurrencies, institutions are now developing tokenization platforms, operating stablecoins, and working with real-world assets converted into tokens.

This transition is driving greater demand for professionals who understand blockchain, tokenization, and digital assets. Product directors, portfolio managers, innovation professionals, lawyers, and accountants involved in these operations increasingly need to understand how these technologies work and how they can be applied to financial services.

Zayra was created to meet this demand with an educational offering focused on Web3 and digital finance.

The company raised R$15 million, equivalent to approximately US$2.9 million, from angel investors Gustavo Guedes Maniero, Ibrahim Jamhour and Edison Raposo, as well as other investors from the financial sector.

The funds will go toward developing and launching Zayra’s technology platform, creating its content production studio, and recording its first classes in partnership with SP Tech, a technology education institution in São Paulo.

Learn, Build, Earn: Zayra’s educational model

Zayra’s educational offering is based on the Learn, Build, Earn methodology, structured in three stages.

The Learn stage focuses on understanding the concepts and fundamentals of Web3 and digital finance. Build is designed to help students apply that knowledge to projects and new business opportunities. Earn connects professional training with practical financial and career outcomes.

In the Learn module, students will study concepts such as stablecoins, blockchain, tokenization, and other elements of the digital economy.

The platform will also feature ZAI, an artificial intelligence developed by the company to support the learning process. The technology takes into account different class materials, including videos, audio, presentations, and supplementary resources, and can use this context to answer students’ questions based on the content presented in each class.

The learning experience also incorporates concepts from andragogy, a field dedicated to adult learning.

In the Build stage, students will be able to develop initiatives related to the topics studied, using ZAI as a tool to support them throughout the process.

The Earn stage connects training with professional opportunities, including job searches, career growth, business creation, and income generation.

“Education is the first layer of the new financial infrastructure. No matter how large the technology platform or how sophisticated the assets are, without knowledge, no one knows how to operate it,” said Tito Martins.

“The financial market is undergoing a structural transition, and every infrastructure shift starts with education. Those who don’t learn now will be operating in the dark,” he added.

The growing tokenized asset market

The Real World Assets (RWA) market, which brings together real-world assets digitally represented by tokens, has surpassed US$26 billion, according to data presented by the company.

BlackRock’s BUIDL fund represents BlackRock US$2.5 billion of this market. According to Standard Chartered, the segment could reach US$30 trillion by 2034.

In Brazil, banks are developing structures to operate with digital and tokenized assets. For Zayra, this trend is increasing demand for professionals who understand the technology and its applications in financial markets.

Gustavo Guedes Maniero, one of Zayra’s angel investors, highlighted the difficulty financial institutions face in finding professionals prepared to work with this new infrastructure.

“I’ve spent more than 25 years in the financial market and have seen firsthand how difficult it is for institutions to find professionals prepared to operate this new digital infrastructure,” Maniero said. “I decided to invest in Zayra because the thesis is simple and sound: before selling technology, you need to train the people who will operate it. That’s the gap the company aims to close.”

Zayra’s founding team

Zayra is led by Tito Martins, who has three decades of experience in the financial market and has held positions at Banco Matrix, Itaú-Unibanco, and HSBC Bank.

At Banco Matrix, Martins served as an executive at Cred1, a financial services company that was later sold to Itaú-Unibanco. At the bank, he took part in Fininvest’s commercial restructuring, the group’s consumer lending operation.

He also helped create a partnership with Ipiranga to launch a private-label and co-branded fuel card. He later took charge of the bank’s vehicle financing operation.

The founding team also includes Claudio Yamaguchi, a designer and strategist responsible for the company’s education and product areas. Yamaguchi has 26 years of experience in technology, behavior, and education, with previous experience at Via Varejo and the digital product school Tera.

Daniel Marques, a blockchain developer since 2016 and author of the book Bitcoin for Beginners, is in charge of the platform’s technology infrastructure.

The team is rounded out by Renato Janesch, a CFO with more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, credit, and investments, with previous experience at Citi, DuPont, and Magazine Luiza.

Zayra seeks Web3 specialists

Zayra is also expanding its network of specialists to take part in classes, lectures, workshops, mentoring sessions, and events for the company’s community.

The initiative, led by Claudio Yamaguchi, is seeking professionals with hands-on experience in Web3 and digital finance.

Areas of interest include:

• Blockchain and protocols
• Stablecoins and digital payments
• DeFi
• Tokenization of real-world assets (RWA)
• NFTs and utility tokens
• Smart contracts
• Crypto asset regulation and compliance
• Digital identity
• DAOs and on-chain governance
• Asset security and custody
• Web3 applied to business
• Crypto asset portfolio management
• Artificial intelligence applied to business

Zayra plans to use this network of specialists to expand its content offering under the Learn, Build, Earn methodology.