Worth, a fintech startup focused on streamlining underwriting for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), has secured a $20 million seed funding round. The sizable seed round comes at a time when capital is scarce, highlighting investor confidence in Worth’s potential.
The company’s co-founders, Sal Rehmetullah and Suneera Madhani, are no strangers to fintech success. The sibling duo previously co-founded Stax Payments, a company that grew to $140 million in recurring revenue and a valuation exceeding $1.1 billion before their exit. Having raised $245 million for Stax, they are now leveraging their expertise to scale Worth from their base in Orlando, Florida.
Worth aims to simplify the complex and time-consuming process that SMBs face when applying for credit-based products, loans, or financing. “Today, a consumer can apply for an Apple Card and start using it within minutes, but small businesses must navigate a cumbersome process filled with paperwork and long wait times,” Madhani explained.
To address this inefficiency, Worth has built a platform that reduces paperwork, minimizes application abandonment, and speeds up approvals. The company claims that SMBs can be onboarded and underwritten with just three fields: name, address, and tax ID.
How Fintech Worth’s Technology Works
Worth’s technology automates the application process by pre-filling required data and performing real-time verifications. These include:
- Know Your Business (KYB) and Know Your Customer (KYC) checks
- Ownership identity and fraud verification
- Bank account authentication
- Financial statement analysis
Additionally, Worth’s platform is not limited to the U.S. but can verify SMBs and business owners globally.
Launched a year ago, Worth leverages artificial intelligence and a strategic partnership with Equifax to build a proprietary dataset covering 242 million SMBs worldwide. The platform continuously updates financial data by analyzing transactions from bank accounts, tax returns, QuickBooks, Stripe, and other sources. This real-time data gives financial institutions, credit unions, payment processors, and fintechs unparalleled insights into SMB financial health.
Neil Kapur, partner at TTV Capital, the lead investor in Worth’s equity round, emphasized the importance of this data: “For the first time, we have a 360-degree view of SMB financials, which was previously nonexistent.”
Strong Growth and Monetization Model
While Worth has not disclosed exact revenue figures, the company revealed that its annual recurring revenue (ARR) is in the seven-figure range, with growth exceeding triple digits. In Q4 2024 alone, Worth added 12 new customers, bringing its total client base to over 25 organizations, including Aurora Payments, REPAY Holdings, Fairwinds, and PatientFi.
Worth’s revenue model is based on platform fees and per-entity verification charges, offering customers access to:
- Pre-filling capabilities
- Instant verification services
- Case management tools
- Ongoing predictive monitoring and AI-driven insights
Worth plans to introduce a “Worth Score” in early 2026, a business credit score designed to help SMBs better understand their financial standing. Additionally, the company will use its new funding to scale its sales and marketing efforts.
The $20 million funding round was led by TTV Capital, with participation from Ingeborg, Florida Funders, Deep Work Capital, and Florida Opportunity Fund. Worth also secured $5 million in debt funding from Silicon Valley Bank.
According to TTV’s Kapur, Worth is solving a critical problem by automating SMB underwriting and providing measurable efficiency gains. “Their team is uniquely positioned to disrupt how financial institutions onboard and underwrite small businesses,” he added.
With a strong founding team, cutting-edge AI capabilities, and growing traction, Worth is well-positioned to reshape SMB financing in the years ahead.
