{"id":246622,"date":"2025-10-28T23:12:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T23:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246622\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T23:12:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T23:12:09","slug":"cyphr-will-reveal-how-it-makes-lending-easier-for-small-businesses-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/246622\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyphr will reveal how it makes lending easier for small businesses at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

It happened one day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jannae Gammage\u00a0was\u00a0working with the Small Business Administration as a technology consultant, helping companies\u00a0get access to capital\u00a0through traditional lenders, like banks and credit unions.\u00a0She\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0stop thinking, however, that there\u00a0was a problem: The ways in which lenders and businesses connected were woefully\u00a0outdated,\u00a0especially\u00a0on the technological front.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was inside the mess, watching good businesses die, while trying to navigate legacy workflows,\u201d she\u00a0told\u00a0TechCrunch. \u201cMy literal job was to find technology to solve\u00a0this,\u00a0and it\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0exist. I\u00a0couldn\u2019t\u00a0find anything.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So\u00a0she\u00a0called up an old friend, Alaia Martin, and the two got to work.\u00a0In 2022, the duo started working on\u00a0Cyphr<\/a>, a\u00a0Kansas City-based\u00a0company focused on making the lending process easier for\u00a0lenders and\u00a0small businesses.\u00a0Cyphr is a Top 20 finalist in Startup Battlefield<\/a>, part of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The product analyzes alternative data sources and financial patterns of small businesses to help lenders make decisions about small business creditworthiness.\u00a0Cyphr\u00a0went through\u00a0a few iterations since its launch, but the recent advancements in artificial intelligence paved the way for what the product is today.\u00a0It officially launched\u00a0in\u00a0the market in April 2024.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started out, the problem we were trying to solve was, \u2018How can we make underwriting smarter, faster, so that these entrepreneurs get access to capital?\u2019\u201d Gammage, CEO,\u00a0said.\u00a0\u201cWe wanted a world where money moved freely like it did in other verticals. We came in with a borrower-centric experience,\u00a0whereas\u00a0a lot of companies were focused on \u2018how do we make this work for lenders.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They started\u00a0building\u00a0an LLM, using training data based on overlooked business owners and their company\u2019s financials, to help lenders make decisions about which companies\u00a0to\u00a0partner\u00a0with.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Techcrunch event<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t|
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 27-29, 2025\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were doing it manually,\u201d Martin, the company\u2019s COO,\u00a0said about building LLMs before AI\u2019s latest upgrade. \u201cEven though we\u2019re an AI native company, we started doing this without really any help.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their current model is on top of an OpenAI model, which\u00a0they\u2019ve\u00a0fine-tuned for themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest updates in AI, however, did more\u00a0than\u00a0boost their product \u2014 it also made lenders more willing to work with them, Gammage said. The financial industry was already shifting because of COVID, knowing they needed to digitize and modernize in some ways. \u201cNow\u00a0you add in this AI, where\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0using it\u00a0on a daily basis, it\u00a0feels comfortable,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had [gone to market] in 2022, it definitely would have been a lot harder to get buy-in, just because of\u00a0the\u00a0fear around technology and AI and the status quo,\u201d Gammage said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company has raised\u00a0a million dollars to date.\u00a0Gammage said the process was easy and hard at the same time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe things I thought would be hard were not hard. The things I thought would be pretty straightforward were not at all,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0One sore point was how capital flowed: They would watch peers raise millions at once,\u00a0whereas\u00a0for them, the money came in tranches as they partook in accelerators and various pitch competitions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to have catalytic moments when you\u2019re receiving your cash injections that way,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Martin, meanwhile, was worried about what it would be like fundraising in San Francisco as\u00a0two Black women with non-technical backgrounds\u00a0from the Midwest.\u00a0\u201cWe are not what you think of when you think of a tech founder,\u201d\u00a0she said. But she said they\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0have much of a problem. \u201cWe were really well received in\u00a0Silicon\u00a0Valley.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful we were able to raise because I know it\u2019s less than 1% of us that can say\u00a0that,\u201d Gammage added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company has big plans:\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0currently building a platform to help companies find\u00a0opportunities\u00a0when the World Cup comes to town next year.\u00a0Gammage and Martin have also thought about new locations for the company,\u00a0though nothing is set in stone.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are excited about the future of the company,\u201d\u00a0Gammage\u00a0said, adding that\u00a0winning\u00a0Disrupt\u2019s\u00a0Battlefield\u00a0will hopefully help\u00a0accomplish\u00a0these\u00a0goals. \u201cEven\u00a0momentum requires money.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you want to learn more about Cyphr from the company itself \u2014 while also checking out dozens of others, hearing their pitches, and listening to guest speakers on four different stages \u2014 join us at Disrupt, October 27 to 29 in San Francisco. Learn more here.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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