In November 2025, Kaaj, a San Francisco-based AI credit intelligence platform, made waves by securing $3.8 million in seed funding. For those unfamiliar, Kaaj focuses on transforming small business lending by automating loan underwriting, an area often notorious for its inefficiency and inaccessibility. As a serial entrepreneur and someone obsessed with all things startup-related, I find this development exciting. Why? Because it addresses one of the most persistent bottlenecks for entrepreneurs, especially those running small businesses: access to capital.
Breaking Down Kaaj’s Strategy for Success
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Pinpointing the Problem:
According to recent studies, almost half of small business loan applicants don’t receive the necessary funding. The primary reason? Many loans under $1 million aren’t considered viable by lenders who struggle to make them profitable due to manual, time-intensive processes. -
Automation Redefining Efficiency:
Kaaj doesn’t just smooth over inefficiencies. It uses agentic AI, orchestrating automated workflows to handle everything from business verification to risk assessment. This isn’t abstraction for the sake of buzz; we’re talking about cutting down days’ worth of work to mere minutes for a loan decision. This time-saving element is crucial for industries reliant on speed and precision. -
Transparent Integration:
Another standout feature is Kaaj’s integration capabilities. It works with existing loan origination systems and even syncs with popular CRM tools like Salesforce and HubSpot. This is instrumental in encouraging mass adoption among lenders hesitant to overhaul their existing infrastructure.
In my experience, startups that position themselves as enablers instead of disrupters are the ones that achieve long-term success. Kaaj’s model, which combines cutting-edge tech with a practical, problem-solving mindset, is one to watch.
The Numbers and People Behind Kaaj’s Growing Momentum
This company’s rapid progress is worth evaluating. Within just a year of its founding in 2024, Kaaj had processed over $5 billion in loan applications, a staggering figure that underscores its traction in a $3 trillion market for small-business and equipment financing in the U.S.
Behind the scenes are co-founders Utsav Shah and Shivi Sharma. Shah, with significant AI development experience at Uber and Cruise, complements Sharma’s expertise in credit risk and fraud prevention honed at companies like American Express and Varo Bank. The powerhouse duo is supported by a solid set of venture backers, including Kindred Ventures and Better Tomorrow Ventures, alongside individual investors like Sardine AI CEO Soups Ranjan.
You can discover more about this success story through Kaaj’s latest funding announcement.
Why It Matters to Entrepreneurs
Many small-business owners, myself included, are all too familiar with the frustrations of seeking loans, particularly smaller ones. Traditionally, the manual nature of underwriting makes smaller loans less attractive to lenders. Kaaj offers a new model: make even the smallest loans profitable for banks while speeding up the process for entrepreneurs trying to grow their startups.
How You Can Learn from Kaaj’s Strategy
Here’s how startups across sectors can emulate Kaaj’s approach:
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Identify a Market Gap:
Understand the barriers in your target market and focus on removing them with your solution. For Kaaj, it was simplifying small-loan processes for financial institutions while creating a better experience for underserved small businesses. -
Start With the Right Leadership:
Kaaj’s leadership team brought complementary strengths. Shah’s background in tech and AI paired seamlessly with Sharma’s credit risk expertise. If you’re building a team, think about assembling people who excel in different fields but share the same vision. -
Develop Seamless Tools:
Create solutions that integrate with what your customers are already using. A complicated product requiring customers to overhaul their systems is a hard sell. That’s where Kaaj shines, its platform fits effortlessly into existing banking systems. -
Leverage Real Data:
Kaaj’s AI also uses reliable data to identify and validate credit risks. Entrepreneurs can adopt the same data-driven methodology when developing products or making key business decisions.
Key Mistakes to Avoid as a Startup
Learning from others is often more useful than trial and error. Here are common traps to dodge based on Kaaj’s journey:
- Ignoring Market Timing: If Kaaj had launched before AI’s potential in fintech was widely recognized, it might not have received such a warm reception from investors. Timing can be the difference between funding and failure.
- Misalignment of Mission and Technology: Some startups build tech for the sake of it rather than solving real problems. Kaaj succeeds because its tools address a fundamental unmet need in SME lending.
- Overcomplicating Integration: No matter how advanced your product, it’s useless if customers can’t easily use it. Keeping your solution compatible with existing systems helps ensure it gains traction.
Why the Future of Business Depends on Access to Capital
Every entrepreneur knows the hardships of securing funding. From my own experience, the barriers are often less about the feasibility of the business idea and more about systemic inefficiencies. By automating credit intelligence and ensuring lenders can afford to process smaller loans, Kaaj may have created a ripple effect. More businesses getting funding means more innovation, job creation, and growth.
If you’re in the startup world, tap into the resources that are emerging within fintech. Read about Kaaj’s recent milestone at Finextra’s detailed report on Kaaj and see how you can adapt some of their strategies to benefit your own venture.
In Closing
Startups like Kaaj inspire me not just as an entrepreneur but as someone who has also struggled with funding rights in the past. By tackling the loan underwriting process head-on through meaningful, data-backed solutions, Kaaj is paving the way for easier and more equitable lending for small businesses. For those of us running or planning to launch SMEs, this signals a hopeful horizon where credit is finally democratized. Keep an eye on this company, it’s a lesson in executing the right idea with the right team at the right time. As we march toward making entrepreneurship more accessible, Kaaj serves as a promising model of what’s possible. Let me know in the comments: how would such technology impact your entrepreneurial goals? Let’s discuss.
FAQ
1. What is Kaaj and what does it offer?
Kaaj is a San Francisco-based AI credit intelligence platform founded in 2024. It automates small business loan underwriting processes from application to decision-ready analysis through agentic AI workflows. Explore Kaaj’s technology
2. How much funding has Kaaj secured, and who led the investment?
Kaaj raised $3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Kindred Ventures, alongside Better Tomorrow Ventures and other backers. Check out Kaaj's funding announcement
3. Who are the founders of Kaaj, and what are their backgrounds?
Kaaj was co-founded by Utsav Shah, a former Uber and Cruise AI expert, and Shivi Sharma, who has expertise in credit and fraud risk management from her time at companies like American Express and Varo Bank. Discover more about Kaaj’s leadership
4. What problem is Kaaj aiming to solve in the small business lending sector?
Kaaj addresses the inefficiency and unprofitability of processing loans under $1 million, a challenge that leaves about 50% of small business loan applicants underserved. Learn about the market gap Kaaj is solving
5. How does Kaaj’s platform improve the loan process?
Kaaj’s agentic AI platform automates critical loan functions such as business verification, financial review, and risk assessment in under three minutes. Discover Kaaj's end-to-end automation
6. How has Kaaj performed since its founding?
Within one year of founding, Kaaj processed over $5 billion in loan applications, showing significant traction in small-business financing. Check Kaaj's performance metrics
7. What makes Kaaj’s platform accessible to lenders?
Kaaj integrates seamlessly with existing loan origination systems and popular CRM tools like Salesforce and HubSpot, enabling effortless adoption. Discover Kaaj’s integration capabilities
8. What notable investors supported Kaaj?
Several venture backers and angel investors participated in Kaaj’s seed round, including Kindred Ventures, Better Tomorrow Ventures, and Sardine AI CEO Soups Ranjan. Learn more about Kaaj’s investors
9. Why is Kaaj’s technology significant for entrepreneurs?
Kaaj democratizes access to capital for small businesses by making smaller loans profitable for lenders and accelerating loan decisions. Explore Kaaj's impact on entrepreneurs
10. What is the market potential for Kaaj’s platform?
Kaaj is poised to disrupt the $3 trillion market for small-business and equipment financing in the U.S. Discover Kaaj’s market reach
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
