# Kafene

> Kafene is a New York-based fintech that gives retailers a point-of-sale lease-to-own option for shoppers who get turned away by traditional credit. Using a machine-learning model that weighs more than 20,000 data points, Kafene approves customers in seconds for purchases up to about $5,000 - furniture, appliances, electronics, tires - then lets them lease the item and either pay it off to own it or return it without penalty. It positions itself as a transparent, debt-free alternative to buy-now-pay-later for the roughly 100 million Americans with limited or no prime credit.

- **Founded:** 2019
- **Headquarters:** New York, New York, United States
- **Founders:** Neal Desai (Co-Founder & CEO), James Schuler (Co-Founder & CTO (Forbes 30 Under 30, Finance))
- **Team size:** ~110-150 employees
- **Products:** Point-of-Sale Lease-to-Own Platform, AI Underwriting Engine, Merchant Tools & POS Integration, Flexible Lease Management for Consumers
- **Notable:** Raised $122.6M in total funding across equity and debt, Co-founder James Schuler named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Finance), Surpassed $100M+ in lease originations since launch

## Products & services

- **Point-of-Sale Lease-to-Own Platform** — A checkout financing product that lets merchants offer lease-to-own agreements to prime and non-prime shoppers for durable goods up to about $5,000. Kafene buys the item from the retailer and leases it to the customer.
- **AI Underwriting Engine** — A machine-learning model that evaluates more than 20,000 data inputs to deliver instant, risk-based approvals and tiered, personalized lease pricing without relying on a traditional credit score.
- **Merchant Tools & POS Integration** — Software for retailers to integrate Kafene at the register and online, manage leases, drive incremental sales, and acquire customers who would otherwise be declined.
- **Flexible Lease Management for Consumers** — Weekly or monthly payment options, early purchase paths to ownership, and the ability to return the item mid-agreement without a credit penalty.

## Achievements

- Raised $122.6M in total funding across equity and debt
- Co-founder James Schuler named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Finance)
- Surpassed $100M+ in lease originations since launch
- Reported $150M+ in incremental sales generated for retail partners
- Grew to 1,000+ retail partners across the U.S.
- Reached positive unit economics by end of 2022

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Raised $15M in growth/venture debt from Trinity Capital to expand commercial operations and its merchant network.
- **2023-10** — Added $12.6M to its Series B round to scale the point-of-sale lease-to-own platform.
- **2022-09** — Raised an $18M Series B led by Third Prime to compete with BNPL and serve non-prime consumers.

## Links

- Website: https://kafene.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kafene
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/leasewithkafene
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Kafene.inc/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/kafene
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14