small-business-lending
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Purpose Unlimited Built a $30 Billion Finance Machine by Fixing the Awkward Parts
Som Seif's Toronto firm turned unglamorous financial friction into ETFs, advisor software, business loans and retirement income - then crossed $30 billion in platform assets. The interesting product is the method behind the products.
Biz2Credit Put the Bank in a Browser. Then Speed Became Its Most Expensive Promise.
The Arora brothers turned a small-business credit gap into a two-sided fintech: funding for owners, lending software for banks, and a data loop connecting both. The useful lesson is not simply to move faster - it is to make sure operations can cash every promise marketing writes.
The $1 Billion Credit Line Built for the Messy Middle of Business
Idea Financial found a large business hiding between a paid invoice and the next payroll. Its answer is revolving credit, quick underwriting and enough human judgment to make software feel less like a verdict.
Atlantic Union Bank
Atlantic Union Bank grew from a $2,500 rural institution into a $38.1 billion Mid-Atlantic franchise. Its wager is that scale and local judgment can still share the same balance sheet.
Kelly Jordan
A finance-trained operator moved closer to the customer - and built a marketing career around the discipline of listening, measuring and adapting.
Enova International
Enova built a multibillion-dollar lending business by treating credit decisions as a software problem. Now the Chicago fintech is preparing to add something decidedly old-school to the machine: a bank charter.
Pideaky
Pideaky is a Monterrey-based fintech that helps offline Latin American small businesses - mostly Mexico's corner shops (tienditas) and their suppliers - manage and accelerate cash flow. It uses AI and computer vision to turn photos and videos of a shop's inventory into a credit score, then extends inventory-based financing alongside automated collection, payment and reconciliation tools. The company was part of Y Combinator's Summer 2021 batch.
Exponent
Exponent is a New York-based fintech building a financial operating system for America's franchise operators. It combines expansion and acquisition lending, a franchise-focused corporate charge card, and an AI-powered accounting suite so multi-unit operators - the people running dozens of Burger Kings, Dunkins, or Wendy's - can get capital faster and see real-time financials without waiting for month-end reports. Founded in 2023 and led by former Visa and Stripe executive Sohel Roopani, Exponent serves 100+ operators representing over 10,000 locations and raised $40M in equity and credit in 2026.
Jacqueline Reses
Jacqueline 'Jackie' Reses is the Chair and CEO of Lead Bank, a Kansas City-based chartered bank she acquired in 2022 and transformed into a banking-as-a-service powerhouse serving fintech builders. Previously, she built Square Capital from zero into a multi-billion dollar lending business at Square (now Block), served as a board member at Alibaba through its historic 2014 IPO, led 41 transactions as Yahoo's Chief Development Officer, and spent seven years at Goldman Sachs in M&A. A Wharton-trained economist from Atlantic City, she co-authored 'Self-Made Boss' and holds patents in payments, credit, and cryptocurrency. Lead Bank closed a $70M Series B in September 2025 at a $1.47B valuation backed by a16z, Ribbit Capital, Coatue, and Khosla Ventures.
David Haber
David Haber is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), based in New York City - the firm's first full-time GP in Manhattan. A Harvard-trained biochemist turned fintech operator-investor, Haber founded Bond Street (acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2017), seeded Plaid at Spark Capital, and now co-leads a16z's AI Apps fund with a focus on vertical AI, enterprise software, and financial services. Known as the 'super-connector' who bridges Wall Street and Silicon Valley, he sits on the boards of Camber, Crux, Eve, Moment, Rutter, Setpoint, and Tennr.