Articles by Press Release
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
CS Lend Fuji 3.0 Launches to Help Lenders Stop Working Out of Their Inbox and Originate From One System
February 6, 2026Los Angeles, CA – Cloudsquare announced the release of CS Lend Fuji 3.0, a major platform update designed to eliminate inbox-driven origination workflows and give lending teams a single system to manage communication, execution, and deal progress.
Across the lending industry, origination still runs through shared inboxes. Brokers email constantly for status updates, revised terms, contracts, and changes. Teams monitor the inbox, switch into the CRM to find the Opportunity and review data, then return to email to respond. This back-and-forth becomes the operating model, slowing deals down and making it difficult to maintain clear visibility into deal status.
As volume increases, this way of working creates delays, missed follow-ups, and confusion. Deal information becomes scattered across inbox threads and notes, and teams spend more time keeping email and CRM activity in sync than moving deals forward.
CS Lend Fuji 3.0 addresses this problem by fundamentally changing how communication flows. Anyone on the team can now read and reply to emails directly from the Opportunity, allowing origination work to happen in one shared place with full context and clear next steps.
Centralized Email Management Built for Origination
The headline feature of Fuji 3.0 is Centralized Email Management. Origination-related emails are automatically captured and displayed directly on the Opportunity timeline, bringing communication into the system of record.
When a broker asks for a status update, teams can see the full conversation history, context, and email thread in one view and reply directly from the Opportunity, just as they would from an inbox. This provides clear visibility into who responded and what has already been addressed, while ensuring the CRM remains the source of truth.
Task-Driven Follow-Ups With Clear Accountability
Fuji 3.0 also introduces task-driven notifications that turn communication into action. In high-volume origination environments, relying on memory to track follow-ups creates risk and inconsistency.
By tying email activity to follow-up tasks, important broker requests and internal reviews become trackable and assignable. This ensures next steps are visible and owned, helping every deal move forward without manual checking.
Expanded Global Search for Faster Answers
To further reduce friction, Fuji 3.0 expands Global Search across the borrower lifecycle. Teams can now quickly find Agreements, Applications, Remittances, Syndications, and Cases by searching an Account name.
This provides a complete view of borrower activity in seconds and significantly reduces time spent searching for information that should be immediately accessible.
Cleaner Data at Entry
Fuji 3.0 also improves data quality at the point of entry with built-in validation for U.S. bank routing numbers using ABA checksum algorithms. Routing numbers are validated the moment they are entered, helping prevent format errors that often lead to failed transactions and operational cleanup later in the lifecycle.
Servicing Reliability Improvements
The release includes several servicing fixes focused on stability and accuracy, including improvements to PDF generation for Statements and Remittance reports, refinements to reschedule logic and payment rounding, and updates to support high-volume weekend processing.
Why Fuji 3.0 Matters
For too long, origination teams have been forced to react to the loudest email in the inbox. Fuji 3.0 gives teams control over the deal again by unifying communication, search, and data validation inside a single system.
This release lays the foundation for the next stage of growth, allowing lending teams to scale volume without scaling headcount or operational complexity.
About Cloudsquare
Cloudsquare is the leading end-to-end lending platform, uniquely powered by Salesforce, to deliver unparalleled flexibility and innovation for lenders and brokers. With a commitment to optimizing lending processes through cutting-edge technology, Cloudsquare provides robust, scalable solutions that empower clients to achieve greater efficiency and growth. Celebrated by industry leaders, Cloudsquare has earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list as one of America’s fastest-growing companies and is consistently rated a top service provider on platforms like Salesforce AppExchange, G2, Clutch, and Manifest.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Cloudsquare Marketing Email: marketing@cloudsquare.io
AdvanceIQ.ai Launches Risk & Portfolio Intelligence Platform for SMB Lending
February 5, 2026NEW YORK, Feb. 05, 2026 — AdvanceIQ.ai, a leading provider of risk and portfolio intelligence for the SMB lending and private credit market, today announced the launch of the AIQ Platform, a unified intelligence platform supporting SMB lenders and private credit investors—including merchant cash advance (MCA) and revenue-based finance (RBF) originators and investors.
Designed to support underwriting, portfolio management, and capital allocation, the AIQ Platform replaces fragmented tools, spreadsheets, and static reports with a cohesive analytics and intelligence system purpose-built for SMB alternative lending originators and investors. As SMB AltLending increasingly intersects with private credit and institutional capital, the AIQ Platform provides a shared, consistent view of risk, performance, and portfolio dynamics.
The AIQ Platform consists of three integrated components:
- PortIQ — portfolio intelligence delivering performance analysis, attribution, benchmarking, forecasting, and operational insights
- SMB RiskIQ (SRI) — AdvanceIQ.ai’s proprietary risk scoring and segmentation model, trained on SMB credit performance outcomes, with deep coverage of MCA and RBF portfolios
- ARIA — an AI-driven intelligence layer that interprets portfolio analytics, risk signals, and portfolio-relevant news to provide natural-language insights and decision support
Together, these components operate as a unified intelligence system and are designed to integrate directly into existing CRMs, origination and servicing systems, marketplace platforms, and internal data environments.
“The combination of PortIQ and SMB RiskIQ has given our team a much clearer view into portfolio performance and deal quality,” said Daniel DeMeo, CEO of Lendr. “We’re able to surface risk signals earlier and move faster on underwriting and portfolio decisions. ARIA adds another layer by helping summarize those signals into clear takeaways our team can review and act on.”
“As SMB lending businesses scale, managing risk and performance across the portfolio becomes significantly more complex,” said Tomo Matsuo, Founder & CEO of AdvanceIQ.ai. “The AIQ Platform gives originators and investors a clear, consistent intelligence layer to understand what’s working, where risk is emerging, and how to make better decisions to improve portfolio performance and profitability.”
The AIQ Platform is already in use by leading SMB lenders and private credit participants and is helping move the market toward more systematic, data-driven approaches to portfolio management and risk assessment.
To schedule a demo or request trial access, visit www.advanceiq.ai.
About AdvanceIQ.ai
AdvanceIQ.ai is an AI-powered risk and portfolio intelligence platform built for SMB lending and private credit, with deep coverage of merchant cash advance (MCA) and revenue-based finance (RBF). Grounded in deep industry expertise, its product suite—PortIQ, SMB RiskIQ (SRI), and ARIA (AdvanceIQ.ai Risk Intelligence Agent)—combines domain knowledge with advanced analytics to deliver portfolio intelligence, risk scoring, and AI-driven insights that help originators and investors make faster, smarter, and more profitable decisions.
AdvanceIQ.ai also empowers platform and technology partners by embedding these capabilities directly into third-party systems, enabling partners to enhance workflows, expand insights for their users, and deliver differentiated value through seamless integration of PortIQ, SRI, and ARIA.
Press Contact
AdvanceIQ.ai Media Relations
Email: info@advanceiq.ai
VOX Funding and Cloudsquare Partner to Accelerate API-Driven Capital Automation
January 29, 2026New York, NY – VOX Funding, a leading fintech provider of fast and flexible capital solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, has partnered with Cloudsquare, the premier Salesforce-native alternative business lending CRM for brokers. Together, the companies are introducing a next-generation, API-powered funding workflow designed to eliminate manual handoffs and accelerate deal flow across the entire broker ecosystem.
This integration enables real-time submissions, faster approvals, and cleaner funding processes – reducing reliance on email communication and eliminating delays caused by traditional back-and-forth exchanges.
A Seamless, Fully Connected Lending Experience
Through this partnership, VOX Funding has expanded the reach of its SYNQ API by integrating directly with Cloudsquare’s Salesforce-powered platform. ISOs using Cloudsquare can now submit deals to VOX instantly, enabling a smoother and more transparent process from initial application through final approval.
Brokers and merchants gain true end-to-end visibility into the funding journey, including offers, documents, stipulations, and real-time status updates, all within the systems they already use.
“Too many brokers who submit to VOX are limited by CRMs that cannot support API submissions, and building their own integration is not realistic for most teams,” said Jeffrey Morgenstein, Co-Founder and CEO of Cloudsquare. “This partnership creates a seamless upgrade path so brokers can transition to Cloudsquare and work with VOX more efficiently, with improved speed and total transparency.”
Positioning VOX for Scalable Growth
For VOX Funding, this integration represents a major leap forward in scalability and partner enablement. By reducing manual touchpoints and automating key workflow steps, VOX can serve its broker network with greater speed, accuracy, and operational efficiency.
“Our mission is to make capital access fast, flexible, and tailored to the unique needs of every business,” said Louis Calderone, Co-Founder and President of VOX Funding. “Cloudsquare’s API-driven platform brings speed and transparency, allowing us – and our partners – to work smarter and deliver better outcomes for the clients who rely on us.”
About VOX Funding
VOX Funding delivers fast, flexible, and creative capital solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. By tailoring funding to each business’s needs — often within 24 hours – VOX helps merchants seize opportunities, expand operations, and achieve sustainable growth without delay.
www.voxfunding.com
About Cloudsquare
Cloudsquare is the leading end-to-end lending platform, uniquely powered by Salesforce, to deliver unparalleled flexibility and innovation for lenders and brokers. With a commitment to optimizing lending processes through cutting-edge technology, Cloudsquare provides robust, scalable solutions that empower clients to achieve greater efficiency and growth. Celebrated by industry leaders, Cloudsquare has earned a place on the Inc. 5000 list as one of America’s fastest-growing companies and is consistently rated a top service provider on platforms like Salesforce AppExchange, G2, Clutch, and Manifest.
DailyFunder Mobile App Update 2.1.3
January 21, 2026DailyFunder 2.1.3 Mobile Update
• Opens right to Activity Feed
• 1-tap to show you’re going to the next industry event
• See who else tapped and DM them
• Deal Bin in the Activity feed
• Recent industry news headlines in Activity Feed
• See event info and who’s exhibiting
DailyFunder has > 17,000 members in the industry.
Event networking integration on the Desktop browser
More features and fixes to come. App/Site registration is still limited to the Desktop browser version of the site.
Maxim Commercial Capital Grew Team by 21% during 2025
January 20, 2026LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (Jan. 20, 2026) – Maxim Commercial Capital (“Maxim”) announced the addition of Lyndon Elam as Chief Operating Officer and Donald Cosenza as SVP of Business Development while steadily navigating the volatile economy during 2025. Maxim fuels small businesses and entrepreneurship nationwide in underserved market segments by providing loans and leases from $10,000 to $3 million collateralized by over-the-road trucks, trailers, construction and agricultural heavy equipment, and real estate.
“We began 2025 with an aggressive plan to invest in our most valuable asset, our people, and we are pleased to announce the expansion of our executive and operating teams,” said Michael Kianmahd, Maxim’s CEO. “Both Lyn and Don have tremendous experience, exceptional energy, and strong leadership skills to help propel Maxim into 2026 and beyond. We also expanded our operations and accounting teams with skilled, growth-minded talent to support our vision to be the nation’s preeminent alternative lender to small and mid-sized businesses.”
Founded during the 2008 financial crisis, the privately-owned lender remained a reliable funding source for small and mid-sized businesses through 2025’s market turbulence caused by shifting interest rates, an economic slowdown, disruption in the trucking markets, and tariffs. Keys to Maxim’s success over its 17 year history include its steadfast commitment to funding non-prime customers, including startups and those with challenged credit; serving as a reliable funding source for its referral network of equipment vendors and finance brokers; and offering creative funding solutions, such as no cash down transactions where the business may pledge excess equipment or real estate as collateral.
Creatively structured financings during the year included 100% purchase financing for a 20-year-old waste management company in New York with four trucks, and a pending $1.0MM contract, to purchase a $200K 2022 Isuzu FTR Diamond Truck outfitted for trash bin cleaning secured by a first lien on the newly purchased truck and the business owners’ home; a $110K real estate secured term loan to refinance $99K in high-rate MCA loans for the experienced owner of a stone and garden retail store and landscaping business, reducing the borrower’s debt service by $2,400 per month; and a $42K title loan on a 2020 Peterbilt 567 Cement Mixer for an experienced contractor to fund repairs on a Class 8 Day Cab purchased at auction.
Class 8 truck financings during the year comprised loans and leases for experienced and startup owner operators in 41 states across the U.S. Representative fundings included: a $52K 2021 Peterbilt 579 with 514K miles for 25% down for an owner operator with less than two years’ time-in-business, 725 FICO, and charged off credit cards; an affordable $29K 2018 Freightliner Cascadia 125 with 560K miles for 25% down for an experienced owner operator with a 704 FICO and late mortgage payments; and a $42K 2020 Freightliner Cascadia 126 replacement truck for 25% down for an existing customer with a 542 FICO, late on auto payments, and collection accounts on credit cards who had totaled his previous truck.
“We are looking forward to deploying new credit guidelines in early 2026,” noted Elam. “Our committed team is eager to offer a broader and deeper credit spectrum across heavy equipment verticals to benefit borrowers and our vendor and finance broker referral partners.”
About Maxim Commercial Capital
Maxim Commercial Capital is redefining access to capital for underserved small and mid-sized business owners nationwide, helping them unlock growth opportunities and fueling their dreams of entrepreneurship by providing essential loans and leases (“financing”) from $10,000 to $3 million secured by heavy equipment, real estate, trucks, and trailers. The company funds equipment purchase financings and leases, working capital, and debt consolidations. Maxim’s more creative financing structures leverage equity in real estate and owned heavy equipment to facilitate growth and preserve customers’ cash. As a leading provider of transportation equipment financing, Maxim supports startup and experienced owner-operators and non-CDL small fleet owners with financing for class 8 and class 6 trucks, trailers, and reefers. Learn more at www.maximcc.com or by calling 877-776-2946.
###
Contact:
Michael Kianmahd, CEO
Maxim Commercial Capital
(213) 984-2727
NMEF Reports $1.8 Billion in 2025 Originations Doubling Assets Under Management
January 20, 2026JANUARY 20, 2026, NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“NMEF”), an independent commercial equipment lender and lessor headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, reported $1.8 billion in total originations for 2025, including syndicated volume of $566 million. The record originations resulted in a doubling of assets under management to $2.4 billion.
Full-year record originations were driven by a series of targeted strategic actions, including the acquisition of Pawnee Leasing, the purchase of the Midland Equipment Finance portfolio, and the origination and syndication of assets through a joint venture with Oaktree Capital Management focusing on Fair Market Value (FMV) leases.
“2025 demonstrated the durability and scalability of our platform,” said David Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NMEF. “We continued to diversify origination sources, deepen our FMV and syndication capabilities, and integrated strategic acquisitions, all while maintaining disciplined underwriting and operational rigor. NMEF was able to execute on these transactions with speed, structural creativity, and offering certainty of close, reinforcing its position as a flexible and reliable capital partner”
“Syndication activity was a significant contributor to 2025 results, with approximately $566 million syndicated across multiple initiatives.” added Mark Bonanno, President and Chief Revenue Officer “Our syndication strategy is designed to deliver consistent execution and alignment for our partners. By combining origination expertise with thoughtful risk distribution, we’re able to support larger transactions, move with speed and certainty, and create durable value across the capital structure.”
According to Tom Lyle, Chief Operating Officer, “Operationally, 2025 was defined by execution. We integrated acquisitions, optimized portfolios, and scaled infrastructure in line with a clear operating plan. The consistency of that execution underpinned both the doubling of assets under management and a record year for NMEF.”
Looking ahead, NMEF stated it will remain focused on disciplined growth, portfolio quality, and continued investment in scalable platforms to support long-term expansion.
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.
