Investors often ask a simple and logical question:
"Who are these companies I am giving money to, and why are you sure they won't disappear tomorrow?"
On 8lends, you cannot simply register and receive funding.
We do not operate on the principle of a classifieds board, nor do we post projects "on request."
Every borrower undergoes a multi-stage verification process, which we internally call the trust funnel.
This system is designed to filter out weak, non-transparent, or random companies before you even see the project on the platform.
👉 If you are curious about what this process looks like from the business side, you can view the actual form that companies fill out when applying for funding.
This is a good way to assess the depth and seriousness of our approach.
[Link to application form]
In this article, we show exactly how borrower selection works on 8lends.
Who Verifies the Business and Why It Matters
It is important to clarify one point immediately.
8lends is a Web3 platform, but the verification of real businesses is not done by the blockchain or a smart contract.
Onboarding and auditing of borrowers is the responsibility of Maclear AG — a Swiss company with full legal infrastructure and the status of a Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO).
It is Maclear that works with companies, documents, and assets in the real world and acts on behalf of all investors.
Stage 1. Application and KYB — Business Verification
Everything starts with submitting an application through the official Maclear form.
This is not a formality or a short questionnaire, but a full-fledged KYB (Know Your Business) procedure.
At this stage, the company discloses:
- Who owns the business and how the ownership structure is organized;
- Who makes key decisions — beneficiaries and executives;
- Financial statements for previous periods;
- Legal information and registration data.
The goal of this stage is to understand who stands behind the business and whether it exists as a real, operating company, rather than a temporary structure.
Professional compliance solutions are used to check documents, allowing us to detect discrepancies, fake data, and fictitious schemes.
If questions arise at this stage or the company refuses to disclose information, the process stops.
Stage 2. Paid Audit — Intent Filter
After the initial check, the company does not automatically get onto the platform.
The next step is a paid audit.
Financial and legal auditing is the work of analysts, lawyers, and risk specialists at Maclear AG.
This process is paid for by the borrower themselves before receiving any investment.
It is important to understand the logic here.
A company that is not ready to invest its own funds in verifying the transparency and quality of its business is typically not ready for long-term obligations to investors either.
Real businesses perceive the audit as a standard part of the financial process and an investment in their reputation.
If a company refuses to undergo a paid check or evades it, we do not proceed further.
Stage 3. Analysis of Business and Assets
If the audit is paid, a deep analysis begins.
At this stage, Maclear specialists assess the financial stability of the business, its debt load, and its ability to service the loan regularly.
In parallel, a verification of assets offered by the company as collateral is conducted.
We are talking about real objects — machinery, vehicles, equipment, or real estate, not abstract figures.
This is where the key parameters that you later see in the project card are formed:
company risk assessment and collateral parameters.
👉 Want to understand why one project gets an A rating and another a C, and how to read the Risk Score consciously, not just by guessing?
We broke this down in detail in a separate article:
[How to Read the Risk Score on 8lends]
👉 And if it is important for you to understand exactly who holds the collateral, how it is registered, and what happens in case of problems, we recommend this article:
[RWA in 8lends: How Real Collateral Works]
These materials help investors make decisions based on facts, not emotions.
Why Many Companies Do Not Reach the Platform
It is important to understand: far from every business that applies eventually appears on 8lends.
At various stages, we reject companies that fail verification, are not ready to disclose data, or do not meet sustainability and collateral requirements.
This selection happens before project publication, so that on the platform you see already filtered and verified offers, not a stream of applications.
Summary
8lends does not strive to list as many projects as possible.Our goal is to select only those companies that are ready to work transparently, confirm their obligations, and undergo full verification.All the complex and routine audit work is performed by Maclear AG, so that for the investor, the investment process looks simple and clear — like choosing a project and clicking the "Invest" button.This is exactly how we build trust and platform sustainability in the long term.