Inclusive Growth with AI-LIS

Parlay

Inclusive Growth with AI-LIS

Parlay is an AI-Loan Intelligence System expanding capital access, streamlining lending, and empowering entrepreneurs to grow sustainably.

Alexandria, VA, USA

USA

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

Globally, over 200 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises face unmet financing needs, leading to a $5.2T annual credit gap. This shortfall disproportionately impacts women, minority, and rural entrepreneurs, who face systemic barriers to capital access. Gaining affordable financing remains one of the most persistent challenges in starting and scaling small businesses across developed and developing economies. Traditional lending processes, burdened by manual reviews, excessive documentation, and high fixed underwriting costs, exclude many creditworthy borrowers. In the US, fewer than 20% of small business applicants are approved for loans, and 79% of recent applicants report difficulties accessing capital. These challenges are further exacerbated by limited access to financial education and guidance, especially for first-time and underserved entrepreneurs. As a result, viable businesses are denied funding, innovation stalls, and local economies miss critical opportunities for growth. Legacy banking infrastructure was not designed to support small-dollar, high-impact lending at scale. Simultaneously, many digital alternatives fail to address the nuanced needs of community lenders and small business owners. Without targeted intervention, these structural gaps continue to perpetuate cycles of exclusion and economic stagnation. Tackling this issue is essential for advancing inclusive economic growth, creating quality jobs, and fostering resilient, equitable communities worldwide.

Parlay’s Loan Intelligence System (LIS) is a transformative, two-sided platform that enhances both sides of the small business lending equation: 1. For Borrowers: Parlay offers an AI-powered path to inclusive financial access by guiding applications through the loan application process while sharing insights to boost their business’s loan eligibility. Small business owners, especially those unfamiliar with the US financial system, receive actionable insights to increase approval odds, improve financial health, and reduce abandonment during the application process. 2. For Lenders: Parlay uses AI and event-driven architecture to automate document collection, verify eligibility through third-party integrations (e.g., KYB, credit, tax data), and deliver behavioral analytics to identify and re-engage viable applicants. This reduces processing costs, increases eligible deal flow, and enables lenders to offer small-dollar loans sustainably. 3. Systemic Impact: By reducing manual work, minimizing bias in decisioning, and increasing transparency in eligibility and creditworthiness, Parlay lowers operational barriers for community lenders to serve underbanked entrepreneurs, fueling local economies and sustainable job creation. Link to product full demo: https://www.loom.com/share/0e3cd901c5224dbb9ca5e83d81e4f575

Parlay empowers underserved small business owners who are often neglected and excluded by traditional financial technologies. These individuals encounter significant barriers in accessing affordable credit due to complex application processes, limited collateral, thin credit histories, or a lack of financial literacy. Consequently, many promising businesses remain unfunded, hindering local job creation and economic mobility. Parlay also serves community lenders, including credit unions, CDFIs, and mission-driven banks that aim to support these entrepreneurs but are limited by manual, paper-heavy workflows and high origination costs. These lenders frequently lack the digital infrastructure necessary to efficiently underwrite small-dollar loans or to expand outreach in underserved areas. Parlay bridges these gaps with an AI-powered Loan Intelligence System that guides borrowers through a transparent, educational application process while automating verification, qualification, and document collection for lenders. The platform improves approval rates for borrowers, increases deal flow for lenders, and reduces operational overhead, making it financially viable to serve smaller, risk-adjusted loans. In doing so, Parlay unlocks opportunities on both sides of the market: enabling entrepreneurs to build resilient businesses and empowering lenders to expand their reach and impact, fostering inclusive economic growth from the ground up.