AI-native lending platform recognized for expanding banks’ ability to serve small businesses

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Casca announced that it has won the 2026 Tearsheet AI Product of the Year Award, which recognizes innovative AI-powered products that solve real financial services challenges at scale. The fintech won for its AI-native loan origination platform.

Small businesses often need capital quickly to replace equipment, purchase inventory or cover unexpected expenses. Banks may have the capital and appetite to lend, but smaller loans require much of the same document collection, verification and underwriting work as larger commercial loans. This can make them difficult to offer efficiently and push business owners toward faster, higher-cost alternatives. Casca’s platform removes that bottleneck, making smaller-dollar loans more efficient and economically viable for banks, expanding access to responsible capital without adding operational burden.

A representative from Tearsheet shared, “Casca wins the AI Product of the Year Award for reimagining small business lending through an AI-native loan origination platform. AI agents are embedded throughout the lending process to automate more than 100 manual steps, analyze thousands of financial documents in minutes, and perform over 40 credit and KYB checks, while keeping humans in the loop. As a result, banks have automated up to 90% of lending workflows, cut processing times from months to as little as one to four days and increased lead conversions by 312%. By transforming one of banking’s most manual and time-intensive processes, Casca is making small business lending faster, more scalable and more accessible.”

Casca helps borrowers complete an online application in less than 15 minutes. Its AI loan assistant answers questions and sends updates and reminders, while lenders receive structured financial information and a centralized view of each borrower. This allows loan officers to spend less time collecting documents and processing paperwork and more time advising customers. The easy application and AI support is appreciated by the borrowers, 60% of which are submitting applications on weekends, when traditional banking channels are closed.

“Small business owners don’t operate on a traditional banking schedule, but most lending processes still do,” said Lukas Haffer, CEO and co-founder of Casca. “We built Casca so banks can meet entrepreneurs at the speed their businesses demand without compromising responsible lending. This recognition reinforces our belief that better infrastructure can make banks the first place small businesses turn for capital.”

The Tearsheet AI Innovation Awards honor financial services leaders using artificial intelligence to transform operations, improve customer experiences and create measurable business impact through advances in automation, analytics and risk management. You can find the full list of winners here: https://tearsheet.co/announcement/the-2026-tearsheet-ai-innovation-awards-recognizing-the-builders-of-ai-powered-finance/

About Casca
Casca accelerates the loan application and origination process using responsible AI. It is the loan origination platform used by the nation’s leading SBA lenders and FDIC-Insured banks. Founded in 2023 by banking IT experts and AI researchers from Stanford University, Casca is backed by Y Combinator, Canapi Ventures, Peterson Ventures, Clocktower Ventures, The Fintech Fund, and the Sarah Smith Fund. For more information, visit www.cascading.ai and follow us on LinkedIn.

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SOURCE Cascading AI