Fintech startup Kaaj has successfully closed a $3.8 million seed funding round. Kindred Ventures spearheaded the investment, with participation from Better Tomorrow Ventures.
The company builds AI-powered platforms designed to drastically speed up commercial credit risk analysis. Kaaj aims to reduce underwriting time from days down to mere minutes for lenders.
Co-founder Shivi Sharma previously identified a major inefficiency in lending practices. She observed underwriters dedicating disproportionate time to smaller loan applications, making them economically unviable for banks.
Kaaj deploys advanced AI agent workflows that mimic human underwriting teams. This technology verifies, classifies, and organizes required documentation directly into existing Loan Origination Systems.
Moreover, the platform performs crucial fraud checks, assessing document integrity for risk teams. It integrates seamlessly with common CRM tools like Salesforce and HubSpot, providing immediate compliance feedback.
CEO Utsav Shah noted this automation allows teams processing 500 applications monthly to manage up to 20,000 applications with the same staffing levels. This directly addresses the capital access gap for small businesses.
Kaaj differentiates itself by automating the entire end-to-end analysis, not just discrete parts, unlike competitors such as Middesk and Ocrolus. The firm has already processed over $5 billion in loan applications for clients like Amur Equipment Finance.
The new capital will fuel expanded product development, specifically enhancing their agentic AI capabilities. Kaaj plans to aggressively scale its customer base among independent and smaller business lenders nationwide.
