Kastle raises $24 million Series A for banking AI

### Kastle Raises $24 Million Series A to Expand AI Agents Across Banking Operations

San Francisco-based financial technology startup Kastle has raised $24 million in Series A funding as it works to expand the use of artificial intelligence agents across banking and lending operations. The round was led by Insight Partners, with the company looking to scale its platform for automating high-volume operational tasks within financial institutions.

Fifth Wall joined the financing as a new investor, while existing backers Y Combinator and Commerce Ventures also participated. Kastle said the round also attracted investments from a group of startup founders and executives from the financial services industry.

The company plans to use the new capital to expand its engineering, product and go-to-market teams while increasing deployments of its AI platform at banks and other financial institutions throughout North America.

Kastle is initially concentrating on consumer lending, an area where financial institutions frequently manage large volumes of operational tasks through legacy applications, disconnected systems and manual processes. Its platform is designed to work alongside existing technology rather than requiring institutions to replace their core infrastructure.

The company’s AI agents can interact with the software already used by banks and lenders, carrying out designated workflows and updating systems of record as work is completed. Kastle says this approach allows financial institutions to introduce AI into established operations without undertaking large-scale technology migrations.

Kastle refers to its collection of specialized AI agents as an “AI workforce” and describes individual agents as AI full-time employees, or AI FTEs. The systems are intended to take on repetitive operational responsibilities, allowing human employees to concentrate on activities involving judgment, expertise, customer relationships and more complex cases.

According to Kastle, its technology is already being used by financial services companies including Newrez, Valley Bank, Carrington Mortgage Services, New American Funding, Planet Home and Selene Finance. Deployments span areas such as customer service, loan origination, fulfillment and loan servicing.

The company said its AI agents have processed more than $2 billion in transactions to date. Kastle says its platform is built to function within existing processes and controls, giving financial institutions a way to incorporate AI while retaining their current core technology systems.

Rebecca Liu-Doyle, managing director at Insight Partners, said financial institutions need AI systems capable of completing operational work reliably while maintaining compliance rather than adding another layer of software that increases workloads for employees.

Kastle co-founder and CEO Rishi Choudhary said the company is focused on providing financial institutions with an alternative to either continuing to work around the limitations of legacy operations or undergoing lengthy and costly technology migrations.

The company believes AI agents can eventually become part of the underlying operating infrastructure of large financial institutions. Its strategy reflects a broader effort across the financial services industry to move artificial intelligence beyond customer-facing chatbots and limited pilot programs.

Consumer lending is one area where that shift could have a significant operational impact because lenders handle large quantities of time-sensitive tasks that must follow established service, risk and regulatory requirements.

Kastle says its specialized agents are designed around these workflows and can take actions across the tools and applications financial institutions already use. This enables banks and lenders to integrate AI into existing processes rather than rebuilding their technology environments from the ground up.

The Series A financing will also support Kastle’s continued hiring in artificial intelligence, deployment and go-to-market roles. The company expects its expanded teams to help accelerate customer deployments and develop additional capabilities for financial services operations.

With the latest investment, Kastle has secured $24 million in disclosed Series A financing. The company is now seeking to expand its presence among banks and lenders and establish AI-powered agents as a more integrated component of financial institutions’ operational infrastructure.