Kastle, the AI workforce platform transforming consumer lending, has raised $24 mn in Series A funding to expand its AI workforce platform for consumer lending and financial services. Insight Partners led the round. Existing investors Y Combinator and Commerce Ventures participated again, while Fifth Wall joined as a new investor. Several founders and financial services executives also took part.
Kastle develops AI agents for financial services, starting with consumer lending. The sector still depends heavily on legacy systems, manual workflows and large operational teams to process essential work.
The company already supports workflows at major enterprises and banks. Kastle said its AI agents have processed more than $1.8 bn in transactions, giving the company a growing operating record across lending workflows involving substantial financial value.
Financial institutions see broad potential for AI across operations, yet deployment inside large organizations remains difficult. Replacing established infrastructure with an entirely AI-native technology stack involves lengthy migrations, operational risk and substantial technical work.
Technology cycles are moving far faster than traditional infrastructure replacement programs. Adding conventional AI assistants on top of existing systems often captures only part of the available automation opportunity.
This leaves many banks between two operating models. They understand what AI offers, but existing systems and internal processes limit how quickly those capabilities reach production.
Kastle takes a different approach. Its platform lets financial institutions deploy specialized AI agents across their current systems rather than replacing those systems first. The agents perform high-volume workflows, interact with existing software and keep systems of record updated.
People continue working inside the same operating environment. AI agents handle defined tasks alongside them, without requiring a multiyear infrastructure replacement program before deployment begins.
Kastle describes the resulting structure as a hybrid workforce. AI agents take on repetitive, high-volume operational work, while employees handle cases requiring judgment, financial expertise or customer relationships.
The agents operate within existing institutional processes and controls. This gives financial institutions additional operating capacity while preserving human review, internal oversight and regulatory requirements.
Rishi Choudhary, co-founder and CEO of Kastle, said large enterprises have historically faced two difficult options: continuing with the limitations of legacy operations or replacing central systems through lengthy, risky transformation programs.
Kastle offers institutions another route, he said. Its AI workforce operates across infrastructure already in production, letting financial firms use AI without waiting years for a full technology replacement.
Choudhary said the company expects this model to become a faster and safer route for large financial institutions seeking broader AI adoption.
Kastle is initially concentrating on consumer lending, where institutions coordinate large volumes of time-sensitive work across fragmented technology environments. Those workflows also operate under strict service, risk and regulatory requirements.
Its agents are built specifically for lending operations. They combine financial services context with the ability to perform actions across software already used by banks and other lenders.
Rebecca Liu-Doyle, managing director at Insight Partners, said financial institutions don’t need another software layer creating additional operational work. She said they need AI systems able to complete tasks reliably while operating within compliance requirements.
Kastle’s agents work across complex financial workflows, meet regulatory standards and perform higher-risk operational tasks without forcing institutions through multiyear technology replacement programs.
Insight Partners plans to support Kastle as the company expands the platform and its position within financial services AI. The financing arrives as banks and other financial institutions move beyond isolated AI pilots. More organizations are now looking for deployment models capable of supporting AI across larger parts of their operations.
Kastle will use the $24 mn to expand engineering, product and go-to-market teams. The company also plans to develop additional platform capabilities and increase deployments with banks and other financial institutions across North America.
