An investment by Canapi Ventures is increasing the capacity of a tech startup to serve commercial lenders. Canapi led the recent Series A capital raise by San Francisco-based Able, a 2-year-old company that has built a system to speed up the processing of documents and other data required for commercial loans.
 
Canapi’s share of the $20 million total was not disclosed.
 
Able is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that expedites commercial loan processing to save time and money for everyone involved in the transaction: lenders, borrowers, accountants, appraisers and lawyers.

“Canapi has been a true partner in our growth,” Canapi Ventures’ website quotes co-founder Diego Represas as saying. “Beyond leading our Series A, they have given us access to experts, knowledge and partners that would have taken us years to develop on our own.”

In a post on the Canapi Ventures website, company officials explained why the fund decided to invest in Able.

“It’s rare that Canapi invests in companies at formation stage, but after meeting [co-founders] Diego and
Andrew [Hurst] in 2019 we felt there was a clear opportunity to change the shape of the commercial lending industry,” the post reads.

Before opening the cash register, however, Canapi Ventures invited Represas and Hurst to spend “hundreds of hours” with lenders in the Canapi network to prove the worth of their AI platform.

Venture capital firm Canapi Ventures invests in early- to growth-stage financial technology companies. It was founded in 2018 by Gene Ludwig, founder and chairman of Promontory Financial Group, and James “Chip” Mahan, CEO and chairman of Live Oak Bancshares.