Articles by Press Release
Aspire Funding Platform Secures Up to $100 Million Line of Credit to Accelerate Growth and Expand Market Share
March 26, 2026New credit facility strengthens Aspire’s ability to scale originations, support rising partner volume, and continue building one of the most responsive platforms in small business finance
MIAMI, FL March 18, 2026 — Aspire Funding Platform, a leading provider of fast, flexible, and transparent funding solutions for small businesses, today announced it has secured a line of credit of up to $100 Million. The facility provides Aspire with substantial additional capital to accelerate originations, support continued partner growth, and further strengthen its competitive position in the small business finance market.
The new line of credit marks a major milestone in Aspire’s growth strategy as the company continues to scale its platform and increase market share nationwide. Combining the experience of veteran merchant cash advance underwriters and support professionals with advanced technology, Aspire has built a versatile and efficient funding model capable of delivering competitive offers quickly across a broad range of deal types. Its streamlined process allows the company to fund deals within 24 hours and, in many cases, the same day they are submitted.
As demand for speed, reliability, and transparency continues to shape the market, Aspire has distinguished itself through a highly ISO-focused approach, a strong reputation for accessibility, and a commission structure that allows partners to earn up to 17 points. That combination has helped position Aspire as a go-to funding partner for ISOs seeking both strong economics and dependable execution.
“This $100 million line of credit is a major milestone for Aspire and gives us the capacity to keep growing aggressively, expand our footprint, and continue taking market share,” said Dan Lenefsky, CEO of Aspire Funding Platform. “We have built Aspire to move quickly, underwrite intelligently, and deliver a transparent and dependable funding experience for both merchants and ISO partners. With this facility in place, we are even better positioned to scale originations, compete more aggressively, and capitalize on the significant opportunities we see across the market.”
Lenefsky continued, “We take a lot of pride not only in the systems and processes we’ve built, but in our commitment to delivering best-in-class customer service to both ISOs and merchants. Everything we’ve built is centered around being as ISO-facing and transparent as possible, and that has allowed us to earn real trust in the market and build a strong reputation.”
“That approach is a big part of why we’ve already partnered with a number of large, legacy shops and are now trusted by more than 400 ISO partners, who collectively submit roughly 1,200 deals per day,” Lenefsky added. “Our platform is designed to handle that kind of volume efficiently without sacrificing speed, communication, or the quality of the experience.”
Lenefsky concluded, “With the strength of this facility behind us, we now have the capital in place to support that demand and continue scaling alongside our partners. The opportunity in front of us is significant, and we believe Aspire is extremely well positioned to keep expanding, deepen relationships across the market, and continue establishing itself as a leading platform in the space.”
The new facility reinforces Aspire’s momentum as it continues investing in origination growth, underwriting capabilities, technology infrastructure, and partner expansion. With increased capital capacity and a scalable operating model, Aspire believes it is well positioned to broaden its reach, strengthen broker relationships, and continue executing on its strategy to become an even more significant player in the small business funding industry.
For more information about Aspire Funding Platform, visit afp.fund.
About Aspire Funding Platform Aspire Funding Platform is a financial services company focused on providing working capital solutions to small businesses through a fast, transparent, and partner-driven platform. The company serves merchants and referral partners nationwide with an emphasis on speed, responsiveness, and execution.
media@aspirefundingplatform.com
Aspire Funding Platform
Phone: 305-509-8608
Website: afp.fund
https://linktr.ee/aspirefundingplatform
LendPathway Achieves 99.7% Reconciliation Accuracy on Financial Documents
March 24, 2026NEW YORK, NY — March 2026 — LendPathway, a New York-based fintech providing underwriting automation for alternative lenders, announced that 99.7% of all ledgers processed through its platform now reconcile correctly. Every ledger is individually verified against the document it was extracted from, confirming that the transactions, balances, and totals all agree before any data moves downstream.
Over the past few months, the company reduced its reconciliation failure rate from 9.7% to1.9%, while average discrepancies dropped from 2.8% to 0.3% of book volume. Most platforms extract bank statement data without verifying that the numbers add up. When a transaction gets dropped or misread, the error carries into revenue calculations, debt positions, and credit decisions, and the underwriter has no way to know.
“If the math doesn’t add up, nothing downstream can be trusted,” said Andrew Bisch, cofounder of LendPathway. “Every ledger we process goes through multiple reconciliation passes. If there’s a discrepancy, it gets surfaced, not buried.”
Bank statements are notoriously difficult to parse. Formatting varies across institutions, transactions land in different sections, pages get cut off in scans, line items wrap across rows, and some statements only report daily totals instead of individual transactions. LendPathway’s system was built around these problems from the ground up. When a discrepancy does come through, it gets flagged, not rounded away.
The company has processed over $7B in cash flow since going to market in late 2025 and currently serves hundreds of underwriters across more than 20 financial institutions across North America, and growing.
To learn more, visit https://lendpathway.com
First Business Bank Promotes Andrew Hendricks To Assistant Vice President – SBA Lending
February 24, 2026BROOKFIELD, WI – February 24, 2026 – First Business Bank announces the promotion of Andrew Hendricks to Assistant Vice President – SBA Lending.
Andrew Hendricks brings comprehensive commercial banking and SBA lending expertise to businesses and centers of influence seeking government-backed financing solutions through First Business Bank’s Brookfield office. With experience spanning conventional underwriting, credit analysis, portfolio management, and business development, Andrew helps clients access SBA programs that support business acquisitions, working capital needs, real estate purchases, and expansion initiatives. Andrew’s strong expertise and attention to detail give referral partners confidence in his work and First Business Bank’s Preferred Lender Program status. He guides borrowers through the application process while ensuring clients receive appropriate financing structures for their specific business goals.
Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
An SBA-designated Preferred Lending Partner, First Business Bank’s SBA Lending team provides efficient access for businesses to several SBA loan programs, including 7(a) loans, 504 loans, and the International Trade Loan program. The team operates nationwide to assist businesses with various needs, such as commercial real estate purchases, tenant improvements, equipment, working capital, business startup costs, inventory, business acquisitions, and debt refinancing.
About First Business Bank
First Business Bank® specializes in Business Banking, including Commercial Banking and Specialty Finance, Private Wealth, and Bank Consulting services, and through its refined focus delivers unmatched expertise, accessibility, and responsiveness. Specialty Finance solutions are delivered through First Business Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary First Business Specialty Finance, LLC®. First Business Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Business Financial Services, Inc®. (Nasdaq: FBIZ). For additional information, visit firstbusiness.bank. Member FDIC
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CAN Capital Acquires Equipment Finance Portfolio and Platform
February 23, 2026ATLANTA, GA — February 23, 2026 — CAN Capital, a leading provider of access to alternative financing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has acquired the equipment finance portfolio and platform of Republic Bank Finance, a division of Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: RBCAA), headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. The transaction further strengthens CAN Capital’s position as a diversified, growth-focused specialty finance company and expands its ability to serve businesses with flexible, financing solutions.
The acquisition adds a well-established equipment finance portfolio and operational platform to CAN Capital’s existing suite of working capital products, enhancing its ability to meet the evolving capital needs of small businesses across a wide range of industries. Going forward, CAN Capital will leverage its technology, national footprint, robust data and underwriting capabilities, and deep partner ecosystem to scale the equipment finance platform and deliver additional value to customers, brokers, and strategic partners.
“This acquisition is a natural extension of CAN Capital’s long-term growth strategy,” said Ed Siciliano, Chief Executive Officer. “We have built CAN Capital to be a scaled, durable platform that can grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Adding an equipment finance portfolio and platform enhances our product breadth, strengthens our market position, and allows us to serve more businesses with the right capital at the right time. This transaction reflects the momentum of our business and our continued confidence in the growth trajectory of CAN Capital.”
CAN Capital has provided access to over $8 billion to small businesses nationwide and supports over 80,000 customers across a broad range of industries, providing access to fast, flexible financing solutions designed to help businesses grow, manage cash flow, and invest in their operations. The addition of equipment financing capabilities allows CAN Capital to deepen relationships with existing customers while expanding its reach to new borrowers seeking equipment-backed financing solutions.
About CAN Capital
Founded in 1998, CAN Capital, Inc. is a leading provider of alternative financing for small and medium-sized businesses. Through a combination of technology, data-driven underwriting, and industry expertise, CAN Capital delivers fast, flexible capital solutions to help businesses succeed. Headquartered in Atlanta, CAN Capital serves businesses nationwide through a robust network of partners and direct channels. CAN Capital, Inc. makes capital available to businesses through business loans made by WebBank, makes equipment financing available through its CAN Capital Equipment Finance division and makes business lines of credit available through providers of that product.
For more information, visit www.cancapital.com.
NMEF Closes $440 Million NMEF 2026-A Securitization
February 23, 2026FEBRUARY 23, 2026 [NORWALK, CT] – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“NMEF”), a leading independent commercial equipment lender, today announced the successful closing of NMEF Funding 2026-A, a $440 million asset-backed securitization. The transaction marks NMEF’s 11th equipment finance securitization and brings the Company’s total issuance volume to more than $3.5 billion.
A total of 43 unique investors participated in the transaction, including 12 first-time investors, underscoring broad and expanding market confidence in NMEF’s platform and credit performance.
The transaction was nearly 7 times oversubscribed, generating broad-based demand across the capital structure. The depth and quality of participation supported a highly favorable execution relative to both initial price discussions and the Company’s 2025-B securitization, further demonstrating strong institutional confidence in NMEF’s platform.
“We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this transaction,” said Mark Bonanno, President and Chief Revenue Officer of NMEF. “The depth of investor participation and the strength of the order book reflect continued confidence in the quality of our originations, the consistency of our credit performance, and the durability of our platform. We are particularly encouraged by the number of new institutional investors who joined this issuance.”
Mitch Tobak, VP Corporate Development, added, “NMEF is grateful for the continued trust of investors and committed execution by our banking partners. With our strong liquidity position, we are focused on serving our origination partners and bringing high quality paper to the ABS capital markets.”
NMEF Funding 2026-A is collateralized by a diversified pool of commercial equipment finance receivables originated and serviced by NMEF.
About NMEF
NMEF is a premier lender working with third-party referral sources to finance small to mid-ticket equipment commercial leases and loans ranging from $15,000 to $3,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for investment grade opportunities. NMEF accepts A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for many asset categories, including medical, construction, franchise, technology, vocational, manufacturing, and material handling equipment. NMEF is majority owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners and is headquartered in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Fort Collins, CO, Plymouth, MN, Voorhees NJ, and Murray, UT. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans since 2003 from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.nmef.com and www.britecap.com.
Channel Names Robert Moskovitz CFO, Eli Sethre Appointed President of Elite
February 17, 2026Minnetonka, MN, February 17, 2026 – Channel announced today that Robert Moskovitz has joined the company as Chief Financial Officer, adding further depth to its leadership team during a period of continued expansion.
In his role, Moskovitz will oversee Channel’s financial strategy, with a focus on capital markets, liquidity, and long-term growth. He will lead financial planning and analysis, funding initiatives, and capital structure decisions, ensuring the company remains well-positioned as it scales.
Moskovitz has deep experience in equipment finance and capital markets. Most recently, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Verdant Commercial Capital. Prior to Verdant, he spent 14 years as CFO of LEAF Commercial Capital, where he played a key role in growing the business, raising capital, and building financial systems to support sustained growth.
“Robert is widely respected for his extensive experience and the impact he’s had across the industry,” said Adam Peterson, CEO of Channel. “Having someone of his caliber join Channel says a lot about the future we’re building. His background and perspective come at a perfect time as we continue scaling our organization with discipline and purpose.”
Moskovitz is an active participant in the equipment finance industry and has worked with policymakers and regulatory bodies on issues including tax reform, financial regulation, and lease accounting. He currently serves on the Equipment Leasing & Finance Association (ELFA) Board of Directors and its Federal Tax Committee.
As part of this leadership update, Channel also announced that Eli Sethre has been appointed President of Elite, a business unit brand that focuses on partnerships with Independent Sales Organizations and operates out of Kennesaw, Georgia. In this role, Sethre will lead Elite’s working capital strategy, centered on strengthening sales and operations, expanding the product offering, and deepening relationships across its core markets.
Under new and independent ownership, Elite is entering a renewed phase of strategic vision and growth. With a proactive approach and an emphasis on long-term value creation, the business is well positioned for its next chapter. Sethre was key in identifying this opportunity and expressed a strong interest in leading Elite through this period of transformation.
Sethre joined Channel in 2016 as Chief Financial Officer, where he oversaw finance and accounting, risk analytics, portfolio management, servicing, and reporting. Prior to Channel, he founded aFundia, a data analytics and modeling firm, and previously held senior leadership roles at CAN Capital across sales and marketing, finance and business planning, and risk analytics. After nearly a decade as Channel’s CFO, Sethre viewed the transition as an opportunity to broaden his leadership experience through a hands-on operational role.
“Eli has been instrumental in building the strong financial and operational foundation at Channel,” said Adam Peterson, CEO of Channel. “As our organization continues to evolve, his passion for leading Elite and his deep understanding of our strategy make him the right leader to guide the business into its next phase of growth.”
These leadership updates show Channel’s commitment to smart expansion and long-term leadership strength.
About Channel | Established in 2009, Channel is a leading full-service independent lender offering a single source solution for both equipment finance and working capital to small businesses exclusively through equipment finance companies. To date, Channel has funded over $3.35 billion to more than 34,000 business in over 52,000 transactions across the U.S. With headquarters in Minnetonka, MN, the company also operates additional business units and locations in Kennesaw, GA, Mount Laurel, NJ, Des Moines, IA, and Marshall, MN.
World Business Lenders (WBL) Announces a USD $250 Million Investment
February 11, 2026February 11, 2026 – World Business Lenders (WBL) announced a USD $250 million investment from its primary financing partner. As a result, WBL becomes majority institutionally-owned, with its primary financing partner holding the largest single institutional equity position. The company’s founder and CEO, Doug Naidus, continues to lead the platform.
This increase to WBL’s balance sheet and capital access underscores the institutional validation of its core business model, as WBL continues now to scale its products, operations and lending footprint, including the launch of additional loan programs and origination channels in 2026.
About World Business Lenders
World Business Lenders provides general purpose short-term real estate collateralized commercial loans to a broad customer base comprised of short-term residential rentals, small and medium sized businesses throughout the country that lack access to traditional funding. WBL services its loan portfolios along with loan portfolios for third parties, specializing in the management of non-performing loans and REO management and disposition. For additional information, contact Terence Reilly, Senior Vice President, at treilly@wbl.com.
Byzfunder Reports 40% Growth in 2025, Driven by AI Underwriting, ByzFlex Expansion, and a 30% Increase in Customer Portal Engagement
February 10, 2026NEW YORK — February 10, 2026 — Most lenders spent the last decade tweaking rates. Byzfunder rebuilt the engine. While the small-business lending industry debated incremental changes — a faster portal here, a new rate sheet there — Byzfunder made a different bet: if the system is broken, don’t optimize it. Replace it.
In 2025, Byzfunder stopped operating like a traditional lender and started operating like a technology company that happens to move capital. Our new approach is opening new doors for small businesses, which in turn is driving tremendous growth for ByzFunder.
Byzfunder today announced 40% year-over-year growth, record originations, higher approvals with improving portfolio performance, and reduced customer friction across the funding journey. The company also reported a 30% increase in customer portal engagement, reflecting stronger customer loyalty and repeat business — driven by increased adoption of self-serve tools, faster visibility into funding progress, and a cleaner end-to-end experience that reduces unnecessary handoffs.
“Most of the industry is still running on static rules and patched-together systems,” said Ilya Fridman, CEO & Founder of Byzfunder. “We built a modern credit engine designed to learn every day. We didn’t aim to be slightly better — we built Byzfunder to be structurally different.”
Byz.AI: From Underwriting Feature to Decision Brain
In 2025, Byzfunder advanced its AI foundation with Byz.AI — not as a feature, but as the decision brain behind underwriting and pricing. Byz.AI evaluates real-time business signals (cash flow patterns, revenue trends, banking behavior, and industry cycles) to deliver faster decisions and more accurate risk-based pricing than static scorecards. And because it continuously learns from outcomes — repayments, defaults, and merchant behavior — it improves as volume scales. When Byz.AI went live, it widened what we could confidently approve: businesses competitors couldn’t underwrite became some of Byzfunder’s strongest-performing customers, helping drive growth without compromising discipline.
ByzFlex: The Product that Changed Repeat Behavior
A defining driver of 2025 growth was ByzFlex, which now accounts for 20% of total originations, making it one of the fastest-adopted products in Byzfunder’s history. ByzFlex gives your business ongoing access to working capital — acting like a business line of credit, but structured as a revenue-based financing. Funding that resets itself as you repay. ByzFlex was built for how small businesses actually operate: not as a one-time advance, but as a repeatable capital layer that can be accessed as needs change — with flexible draws and capital that moves when they move.
Customer Service — And We Mean Real Customer Service
Byzfunder also continued investing in service as a competitive advantage. In an industry known for tickets, hold times, and scripts, Byzfunder’s approach combines real human support with intelligent automation to create a more responsive, partner-like experience. When a merchant calls Byzfunder, they get answers — not a queue. In a commoditized market, experience becomes the moat.
“In SMB funding, service is often treated as a cost center,” Fridman added. “We treat it as a growth lever. When merchants trust the experience, they come back — and they refer.”
Leadership Built for Scale
In 2025, Byzfunder strengthened its operating bench — not by hiring “managers,” but by hiring builders. Entrepreneurs. Operators. People who have scaled companies, not maintained them. New leadership was added across the CMO, CRO, CISO, Head of People, and Head of Sales functions as Byzfunder scales its platform, expands distribution, and builds a team designed to shock the industry.
2026: The Real Leap
Most lenders buy software. Byzfunder is building its own from scratch. In 2026, Byzfunder plans to launch a fully proprietary, end-to-end AI Lending Management System spanning intake, underwriting, pricing, funding, servicing, and collections — with every step learning, every step automated, and every step improving itself. No handoffs. No legacy vendors. No duct tape. Just one intelligent system: a closed-loop credit engine designed to get smarter every day. This isn’t digital transformation — it’s infrastructure replacement.
“SMB lending has been stagnant for years. Same products. Same underwriting. Same excuses,” said Fridman. “That gap created opportunity. We didn’t want to be slightly better — we wanted to be structurally different. The world is evolving faster than most people realize. The lenders who build for tomorrow will own the next decade. We’re not early anymore. We’re accelerating.”
About Byzfunder
Byzfunder is an AI-driven small business funder delivering fast, flexible capital to entrepreneurs underserved by traditional finance. Founded in 2019, the company combines machine learning, proprietary infrastructure, and a service-first philosophy to create a fundamentally better funding experience.
Media Contact
Xin Hamilton
press@byzfunder.com
