# Lukas Haffer

> Lukas Haffer is the German-born co-founder and CEO of Casca, an AI-native loan-origination company built from an unusual combination of core-banking experience, Stanford machine-learning research, competitive gaming and social entrepreneurship. After serving as chief of staff at Avaloq, he met co-founder Isaiah Williams at Stanford, joined Y Combinator's Summer 2023 batch, and turned a thesis about automating bank work into software used by major SBA lenders including Live Oak, Huntington, Bankwell and Celtic Bank.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Casca
- **Organizations:** Casca, Cascading AI, Avaloq, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Enactus University of Cologne, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** MBA with honors; Arjay Miller Scholar, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Business studies; degree not publicly specified, University of Cologne
- **Known for:** Co-founded Casca and entered Y Combinator's Summer 2023 batch., Raised a $29 million Series A in 2025, with participation from customer banks Live Oak, Huntington and Bankwell., Won Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2024.

## Career timeline

- **2013-2017** — Studied business at the University of Cologne and helped lead social-enterprise projects through Enactus.
- **2017** — Co-led Café ohne Worte, an Enactus-originated concept creating work opportunities for deaf people.
- **2018-2021** — Worked at banking-software provider Avaloq, ultimately serving as Chief of Staff for Germany.
- **2021-2023** — Completed an MBA with honors at Stanford GSB and conducted machine-learning and AI work at Stanford.
- **2023** — Co-founded Cascading AI, now Casca, with Isaiah Williams and joined Y Combinator's Summer 2023 batch.
- **2024** — Casca won Best of Show at FinovateSpring and announced a $3.9 million pre-seed round.
- **2025** — Casca raised a $29 million Series A led by Canapi Ventures, bringing disclosed total funding to $33 million.
- **2026** — Casca added Celtic Bank after design partnerships with Live Oak and Huntington and expanded its public push around community-bank lending.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Casca and entered Y Combinator's Summer 2023 batch.
- Raised a $29 million Series A in 2025, with participation from customer banks Live Oak, Huntington and Bankwell.
- Won Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2024.
- Graduated from Stanford GSB with honors as an Arjay Miller Scholar.
- Built design partnerships with leading SBA lenders including Live Oak and Huntington.
- Won an apoBank hackathon challenge in 2019 with a team focused on gamification and personalized financial advice.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Published an article for Bank Director arguing that community banks can use AI to accelerate lending while keeping humans in control.
- **2026-06** — Published a personal LinkedIn essay on how Enactus, Stanford and Casca shaped his approach to leadership.
- **2026-05** — Casca was named to American Banker's 2026 Best Fintechs to Work For list.
- **2026-04** — Casca announced Celtic Bank as a customer after extended design partnerships with Live Oak and Huntington.
- **2025-08** — Casca announced a $29 million Series A led by Canapi Ventures, taking disclosed funding to $33 million.

## Links

- Website: https://www.cascading.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukashaffer
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6M4wTGR4P8

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lukas-haffer
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-25