Casca, the AI-native loan origination platform, has raised $29 million in Series A funding, led by Canapi Ventures with participation from Live Oak Bank, Huntington National Bank, Bankwell Bank, as well as earlier backers Y Combinator and Peterson Ventures. The raise brings Casca’s total funding to $33 million, setting the stage for a new era in commercial lending.

Bringing AI-Native Infrastructure to Banking

Casca, founded in 2023 by Lukas Haffer, is pioneering a new approach to loan origination that strips away the inefficiencies of outdated banking systems. Instead of layering technology on top of existing workflows, the platform embeds AI directly into the core decision-making process - automating document intake, credit scoring, and borrower communication.

The result is staggering: banks using Casca report 10× faster lending decisions compared to fintech rivals and up to 30× faster than traditional processes. This acceleration empowers financial institutions to provide small businesses with quicker access to capital without sacrificing compliance or oversight.

Strategic Partnerships Cement Credibility

In just over a year, Casca has attracted some of the most respected names in finance. Live Oak Bank became both a customer and investor, joined by Huntington and Bankwell, signaling strong confidence in the platform’s ability to modernize banking infrastructure. These endorsements matter in a highly conservative industry where trust and track record carry as much weight as innovation.

Why Casca’s Model Resonates

The speed at which Casca has scaled reflects a deeper principle in startup building: the strongest companies don’t just innovate - they make their solution feel inevitable. Casca avoided the common trap of marketing itself as “AI in banking” and instead embedded intelligence so deeply into the loan workflow that adoption became frictionless.

This reveals a powerful founder insight: products that position themselves as optional upgrades risk being dismissed as “nice-to-have.” But when a solution quietly eliminates a bottleneck that institutions have long accepted as unavoidable, it becomes indispensable. Casca’s rise is a case study in engineering inevitability - not dazzling customers with futuristic tools, but making itself the default infrastructure.

Focus on Responsible AI and Compliance

Unlike many AI-powered fintech tools, Casca is designed with explainability and auditability at its core. Its underwriting recommendations are transparent, compliant with regulatory frameworks, and give bankers the confidence to trust automation without abandoning human oversight. This balance ensures that AI augments decision-making rather than creating blind spots.

A Win for Banks and Small Businesses

For financial institutions, Casca provides a direct path to compete with fintech challengers without compromising the trust and credibility of legacy banking. For small business owners, it means faster access to funding, reduced paperwork, and stronger relationships with local banks that can finally operate at modern speed.

What’s Next for Casca

With $29M in fresh capital, Casca plans to expand its engineering team, enhance AI-driven risk profiling, and deepen integrations with community and regional banks. The company is positioning itself not as another fintech app but as the infrastructure backbone of modern lending - a platform that could become the default way banks originate loans in the coming decade.