How a Kolkata teenager created a DeFi company with $200,000 annual revenue

At an age when many teenagers are preoccupied with school, friendships, and hobbies, Harshal Madnani from Kolkata has taken a different approach. At just 18, he is the founder and CEO of Xade Finance, a company working in the decentralised finance (DeFi) sector. The teenager has a gold to make DeFi accessible by offering a platform for payments, savings, borrowings, and investments. “Even my grandmother could use it,” he says, highlighting his aim to make blockchain technology more user-friendly.

He also announced that he will be visiting Davos to take part DavosWeb3. "Excited to announce that I’ll be at WEF Davos 25 and be a founding member of DavosWeb3 and be the co author of the Inclusion whitepaper and the signatory to the Davos Declaration," Harshal posted on LinkedIn.

Early Start in Crypto and Blockchain

Madnani’s entry into the crypto and blockchain world began at a young age. At 13, he started building arbitrage bots that traded across centralized exchanges, decentralised exchanges (DEXs), and derivatives platforms. This early experience helped him develop a strong understanding of blockchain technology and the financial opportunities within it.

Founding Xade Finance
In January 2022, Madnani co-founded Xade Finance with the objective of addressing some common challenges in the DeFi space, such as liquidity fragmentation and complex user interfacesThe company saw early growth, attracting 10,000 users and reaching $1 million in transaction volume. This caught the attention of Web3 advisor Ajeet Khurana, who became Xade Finance’s first investor. With Khurana's support, the company’s valuation grew to $10 million, helping it scale its operations.

Milestones and Partnerships
By 2024, Xade Finance had reached a cumulative trading volume of $20 million. The company took a significant step by merging with EdgeIn, a US-based Web3 data company. This merger resulted in the formation of EdgeIn-Xade, combining expertise in blockchain data and DeFi solutions, resulting in $200,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and $1.4 million in funding.