Vancouver-headquartered financial technology startup Levr.ai has successfully raised $1 million CAD in seed funding to further expand its AI-driven loan software tailored for small businesses.
This recent seed round follows a previous pre-seed financing of $1 million, co-led by Mavan Capital Partners from British Columbia and Sprout from Alberta. The latest funding, finalized at the end of January, features continued investments from Weave VC and Sprout, along with contributions from various undisclosed new investors.
With this latest injection of capital, Levr.ai has amassed a total funding of over $2.5 million. While the startup’s valuation remains undisclosed, a spokesperson mentioned to BetaKit that it has tripled since the last funding round.
Levr.ai has already facilitated more than \(15 million in loan offers, a substantial increase from the \)2.5 million reported in early 2023.
The company provides an AI-powered loan platform that links small businesses in need of capital to a diverse array of funding alternatives, streamlining the loan search and application process.
Kaylan Pepin, the co-founder and CEO, expressed that Levr.ai aims to cater to small businesses that are underserved by major banks and often overlooked by technology startups.
Pepin highlighted the growing demand for their platform and emphasized that this new funding round provides them with additional resources to expand further. The platform has witnessed a significant surge in facilitating loan offers, reaching over \(15 million, a substantial leap from the previous \)2.5 million mark.
Against the backdrop of soaring interest rates and inflation impacting small businesses in Canada, Pepin emphasized the critical timing of Levr.ai’s scaling efforts. Notably, business insolvencies surged by over 40 percent in 2023, as reported by Canada’s primary financial regulator.
The financial strain has been exacerbated by the recent repayment deadline for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loans in January. This federal initiative provided loans of up to $60,000 to struggling businesses during the pandemic, with a quarter of recipients missing the repayment deadline on January 18.
Dan Kelly, the president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, warned that this repayment deadline could have severe consequences for many Canadian companies, potentially leading to significant business closures.
Levr.ai’s platform offers small businesses access to lending solutions from more than 40 partners and is accessible throughout Canada and the United States. The company reported that over 2,000 businesses utilized its platform last year, with approximately 250 new businesses joining monthly, and 30 percent of the platform’s traffic originating from the US. Most of this growth was observed in the final quarter of 2023.
The startup intends to utilize the fresh capital to advance its product roadmap, introducing new AI features, and expand its services to a broader range of North American businesses.
