Entry Secures $1M Pre-Seed Funding to Merge AI Compliance with ZK Privacy for Regulated DeFi

Entry, formerly known as Zekret Protocol, has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round to advance its mission of integrating AI-powered compliance with zero-knowledge privacy for regulated decentralized finance. The funding, led by Modern Niagara with participation from Qrecendo and Perrfin, values the company at approximately $25 million seed FDV, with projections reaching $50 million at token generation event.

The rebrand coincides with Entry's push to bridge institutional and decentralized finance through compliance-native infrastructure. "Institutions need foundations that are private by design and regulator-ready by default," the company stated, emphasizing its protocol's ability to bring verified users and screened assets together without gating adoption through excessive risk measures.

Investors highlighted Entry's unique approach combining zero-knowledge proofs with an explainable compliance engine, enabling real-world assets to MOVE on-chain safely at scale. The dual-utility ENT token is seen as creating an economic flywheel for compliant DeFi, with clear pathways for enterprise adoption in both US and EU markets.