NEWITY, a financial technology company focused on transforming how small businesses access capital, announced it has secured an $11 million strategic investment led by CMT Digital. The funding will support the expansion of NEWITY’s AI-driven lending infrastructure and the development of blockchain-enabled capital market connectivity to address a $350 billion annual funding shortfall in the U.S. small business market.
Small businesses account for 99.9% of U.S. firms and employ nearly half of the nation’s workforce, yet face significant barriers in accessing affordable credit. NEWITY is positioning itself to address this structural gap by combining AI-powered underwriting with blockchain-ready capital markets infrastructure, while maintaining regulatory and compliance standards.
To date, NEWITY has supported more than 125,000 businesses in securing $12 billion in SBA loans, reducing funding timelines to one-third of the national average. The company recently expanded its offerings with the launch of Growth Term Loans, broadening access to capital across the small business landscape.
The new investment will advance two primary initiatives: scaling NEWITY’s AI-first underwriting platform to streamline loan origination and building infrastructure to connect small business credit with blockchain-enabled capital markets. The company aims to convert traditionally illiquid small business debt into digital, tradable instruments, enabling capital to be recycled more efficiently back to entrepreneurs.
Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic, co-CEOs Luke LaHaie and David Cody launched NEWITY to address funding barriers highlighted during the Paycheck Protection Program. Cody brings three decades of business development and capital markets experience, including roles at Fortress Investment Group, while LaHaie previously managed private debt funds and has experience as a serial entrepreneur in private credit.
CMT Digital, founded in 2017, is a crypto-focused venture capital firm and a division of CMT Group. The firm has invested in more than 200 blockchain and crypto-focused businesses, protocols, and tokens.
NEWITY clarified that it is not an SBA 7(a) lender, and that SBA loans are originated and approved by participating SBA lenders.
KEY QUOTES:
“NEWITY has demonstrated the ability to move quickly and efficiently in one of the most operationally complex lending markets. Our investment is intended to support the next phase of growth: scaling origination through automation and expanding long-term liquidity options for small business credit through institutional and blockchain-native capital channels.”
Sam Hallene, Partner at CMT Digital
“We’re not improving small business lending, we’re reinventing the financial infrastructure that connects entrepreneurs to capital. AI and blockchain give us the infrastructure to empower our team to operate at the scale that this market demands.”
“We built the rails that let small business credit flow to any investor – from banks and institutions to blockchain-native buyers. We’re not aiming to shrink the $350 billion gap; we’re building infrastructure to eliminate it.”
Luke LaHaie, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of NEWITY; David Cody, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of NEWITY
