Casca
YC S23San Francisco, US · Founded 2023 · 40 employees · Hiring · 13 known investors
Casca provides business loan eligibility checks, with a focus on helping small businesses access SBA loans.
Also known as Cascading AI · CORE Ai
AI & Machine LearningFintechArtificial IntelligenceConversational BankingMachine LearningFinanceUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (S23)
Casca was founded in 2023 by Lukas Haffer.
LH
Lukas HafferinCEO & FounderPreviously, he held the role of Chief of Staff for the European Market at Avaloq, a core banking software provider. He holds an MBA from Stanford University.
Investors · 13
Clocktower VenturesSanta Monica · $100K – $20M
Sarah SmithMenlo Park · $250Kvia Sarah Smith · inferred
Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K
Canapi Venturesreported · 2 sourcesNew York
Olive Tree CapitalreportedBoston
Peterson VenturesreportedSalt Lake City · $250K – $2.5M
The Fintech FundreportedNew York · $150K – $200K
Also in the syndicate · 6
Alliance Funding GroupBankwell BankHuntington National BankLive Oak BankLive Oak VenturesThe Sarah Smith Fund
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements$29M disclosed across 1 of 2 rounds · 2024–2025
- $29MSeries AAug 2025 · 5 sources
Canapi Ventures (lead), Alliance Funding Group, Bankwell Bank, Huntington National Bank, Live Oak Bank, Live Oak Ventures, Peterson Ventures, Y Combinator
Source ↗ - Undisclosed amountpre-seed funding roundFeb 2024
Peterson Ventures (lead), Clocktower Technology Ventures, The Sarah Smith Fund, Y Combinator
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
The YC application· Summer 2023 batch
Alumni Q&A
- What is the core problem you are solving? Why is this a big problem? What made you decide to work on it?
- The founders point to outdated banking IT, including decades-old legacy systems, failed RPA efforts, and heavy manual work, as the core problem. They cite slow loan application processes and look-to-book churn rates of 65-80%, drawing on their years of experience in the financial industry.
- What is your long-term vision? If you truly succeed, what will be different about the world?
- The founders aim to unlock $1T in value for banks globally and improve the banking experience for billions of customers.
Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.
Competitors · 5
by search overlap
Ncino6 shared keywordsnCino provides a cloud-based, AI-powered banking platform with role-based AI agents that support commercial, consumer, small business, and mortgage lending, account opening, and portfolio and operations analytics. It serves banks and financial institutions worldwide, combining automation for tasks like credit monitoring and financial document spreading with human bankers.
Turnkey Lender4 shared keywordsTurnKey Lender provides an AI-powered, end-to-end loan management platform covering loan origination, underwriting, servicing, collections, reporting, and secured lending for businesses that issue consumer and small business loans. The no-code software includes a decisioning engine, configurable credit product builder, and integrations with 75+ accounting, credit bureau, KYC/AML, and payment systems.
C34 shared keywordsC3 AI develops an enterprise AI platform that unifies data, intelligent agents, and domain-specific AI models to help large organizations make faster and better operational decisions. The platform serves enterprise customers across multiple industries including energy, manufacturing, and asset management.
Cascade4 shared keywordsCascade builds an AI agent platform that automates HR and IT support for employees, handling requests across benefits, policy, leave, and access credentials with an identity-first, least-privilege architecture. It targets enterprises modernizing their HR and IT operations.
Credit Benchmark3 shared keywordsCredit Benchmark provides credit risk data and analytics, including consensus credit risk estimates sourced from contributing banks. It serves banking and financial institutions across regions such as EMEA and APAC.
Companies competing with Casca for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Casca do?
- Casca provides business loan eligibility checks, with a focus on helping small businesses access SBA loans.
- Who founded Casca?
- Casca was founded by Lukas Haffer in 2023.
- Who are Casca's investors?
- Casca's investors include Clocktower Ventures, Sarah Smith, Y Combinator, Canapi Ventures, Olive Tree Capital, Peterson Ventures, The Fintech Fund.
- How much funding has Casca raised?
- Casca has disclosed $29M raised across 1 of its 2 known rounds.
- Where is Casca headquartered?
- Casca is headquartered in San Francisco, US.