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CONFIDENTIAL & PROPRIETARY © 2025 Inkwell Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice, nor an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security or other financial instrument. Any examples, structures, or flows described here are design intent only and may change.

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Getting Started

Welcome! This guide will walk you through how to fund revenue-based loans and earn returns through Inkwell Revenue Marketplace.

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Why Lend on Inkwell?

Fixed-Cap Returns

Earn returns from debt obligations with clear maximum repayment caps. No equity risk, no perpetual exposure.

Transparent Tracking

All loan state, cash flows, and repayments are tracked on-chain. Real-time visibility into your positions.

Diversification

Fund multiple deals across different industries, risk levels, and loan sizes to build a diversified portfolio.

Liquidity Options

Secondary marketplace (coming soon) allows you to sell positions to other accredited investors.

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Eligibility Requirements

Accredited Investors OnlyTo maintain compliance, Inkwell restricts lending to:
  • Accredited investors (US)
  • Qualified institutional investors
  • Institutional capital providers
You’ll need to verify your accreditation status before funding deals.
Who qualifies as an accredited investor? In the US, you qualify if you meet any of these criteria:
  • Income over $200k/year (individual) or $300k/year (joint) for the past 2 years
  • Net worth over $1M (excluding primary residence)
  • Professional certifications (Series 7, 65, or 82 licenses)
  • Entity with assets over $5M
Check with your legal advisor for your specific jurisdiction.

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Step-by-Step Guide

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1. Verify Your Accreditation

Before you can fund deals:
  1. Connect your wallet to the Inkwell platform
  2. Complete accreditation verification via our partner
  3. Receive on-chain attestation (EAS/Verite/SBT)
  4. Start browsing deals
Accreditation verification typically takes 1-2 business days.

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2. Browse Available Deals

Once verified, you can browse loan requests: Filter by:
  • Industry/vertical (DeFi, NFT, SaaS, e-commerce, etc.)
  • Loan size (principal amount)
  • Repayment cap (1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, etc.)
  • Term length (12, 18, 24 months)
  • Risk level (secured vs. unsecured)
  • Revenue type (on-chain vs. off-chain)
Review:
  • Borrower’s revenue history
  • Use of funds
  • Collateral (if any)
  • Payment schedule
  • Total funding needed

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3. Evaluate Risk & Returns

For each deal, consider: Revenue Quality:
  • Is revenue growing, stable, or declining?
  • Is it recurring or one-time?
  • Is it on-chain (verifiable) or off-chain (attestation-based)?
Loan Terms:
  • What’s the repayment cap? (1.2x = lower return, 1.5x = higher return)
  • What’s the expected term? (shorter = faster return of capital)
  • What percentage of revenue goes to repayment?
Security:
  • Is there collateral? What type and how much?
  • Is it a secured or unsecured loan?
  • Are there other lenders (syndicated) or just you?
Expected Returns:
  • Calculate your expected IRR based on revenue projections
  • Consider downside scenarios (what if revenue drops 50%?)
  • Factor in default risk
Example Return CalculationDeal: $100k principal, 1.3x cap, 5% monthly revenue shareBest case (revenue grows):
  • Borrower pays $5k/month (from $100k revenue)
  • Loan paid off in 26 months
  • Your return: $30k on $100k = 30% total, ~13% IRR
Base case (revenue stable):
  • Borrower pays $2.5k/month (from $50k revenue)
  • Loan paid off in 52 months
  • Your return: $30k on $100k = 30% total, ~6% IRR
Downside (revenue drops 50%):
  • Borrower pays $1.25k/month (from $25k revenue)
  • Loan paid off in 104 months (8.7 years)
  • Your return: $30k on $100k = 30% total, ~3% IRR

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4. Fund a Deal

Once you’ve chosen a deal: Full Funding (Bilateral):
  • Fund the entire principal amount yourself
  • Receive 100% of repayments
  • Simpler structure
Partial Funding (Syndicated):
  • Fund a portion of the principal (e.g., 25kof25k of 100k)
  • Share repayments pro-rata with other lenders
  • Diversify across more deals with less capital
Commit your capital:
  1. Choose your funding amount
  2. Approve the transaction in your wallet
  3. Funds are escrowed in the protocol
  4. Wait for deal to reach minimum funding threshold

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5. Receive Repayments

Once the deal is funded and closed: On-Chain Loans (Streaming):
  • Repayments stream in real-time via Superfluid/Sablier
  • Automatic, no manual processing
  • Watch your balance grow every second
Off-Chain Loans (Monthly):
  • Borrower makes monthly payments
  • Funds distributed to lenders automatically
  • Track total repaid on-chain
Track your position:
  • Total repaid so far
  • Remaining balance to reach cap
  • Current IRR
  • Payment history

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6. Loan Completion or Exit

When the loan completes:
  • Borrower hits the repayment cap
  • You receive your principal + return
  • Position is marked as fully repaid
  • No further obligations
Or exit early (Phase 1+):
  • Sell your position on the secondary marketplace
  • Only to other accredited investors
  • Get liquidity before loan completes

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Risk Management

Don’t put all your capital in one deal. Spread across:
  • Different industries (DeFi, SaaS, NFT, etc.)
  • Different risk levels (secured vs. unsecured)
  • Different loan sizes
  • Different repayment caps
Example: Instead of $100k in one deal, fund 10 deals at $10k each.
Loans with on-chain collateral have:
  • Lower default risk
  • Downside protection if borrower can’t repay
  • Collateral can be liquidated to recover capital
Trade-off: Lower returns than unsecured loans.
On-chain revenue is:
  • Publicly verifiable on the blockchain
  • Harder to fake or manipulate
  • Automatically enforced via streaming
  • Lower default rates (under 2% vs. 8-15%)
Off-chain revenue requires trust in attestations.
Check your positions weekly or monthly:
  • Is the borrower making payments on time?
  • Is revenue growing, stable, or declining?
  • Are there any red flags?
Early detection of issues allows for proactive restructuring.
Before funding, ask:
  • What if revenue drops 50%? 75%?
  • How long would it take to get repaid?
  • What’s my worst-case IRR?
Only fund deals where you’re comfortable with the downside.

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Advanced Strategies

Once tranched deals are available (Phase 1), you can:
  • Senior tranches: Lower risk, lower return, paid first
  • Junior tranches: Higher risk, higher return, paid last
Mix senior and junior positions to balance risk/return.
When the secondary marketplace launches (Phase 1):
  • Sell positions that are underperforming
  • Buy discounted positions from other lenders
  • Rebalance your portfolio without waiting for loan completion
For large deals, syndicate with other lenders:
  • Share due diligence costs
  • Reduce concentration risk
  • Access larger deals than you could fund alone

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Common Questions

Default handling depends on the loan structure:
  • Secured loans: Collateral is liquidated to repay lenders
  • Syndicated loans: All lenders share losses pro-rata
  • Unsecured loans: May pursue restructuring or workout
The protocol facilitates lender coordination and enforcement.
Phase 0: No secondary trading yetPhase 1+: Yes, but only to other accredited investors via:
  • Whitelisted transfers
  • Private order book
  • Permissioned AMM (for senior tranches)
Returns are generally taxable as interest income. Tax treatment varies by jurisdiction.The protocol provides transaction history for tax reporting, but you should consult your tax advisor.
Minimum investment varies by deal, but typically:
  • Bilateral deals: Full principal amount (e.g., $100k)
  • Syndicated deals: As low as $10k-$25k per deal
Check each deal for specific minimums.

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Ready to Start Lending?

Browse Deals

Connect your wallet and start browsing available loan requests

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Need Help?