Saris, a startup that builds AI agents for bank and credit union operations, has closed a $28.8 million Series A round led by 8VC. The company was founded in 2024 by Danial Jameel, who has spent over 12 years working in AI and machine learning and previously sold Ready Education, a student platform used by hundreds of colleges across North America. With Saris, he is targeting a narrower problem: the hours of repetitive, manual work that back-office teams at banks and credit unions handle every day, from document review to data entry to compliance checks, none of which requires human judgment but all of which consumes significant time and money.
Most of that work still gets done by hand. Large technology companies have built AI tools for big institutions, but smaller banks and credit unions have seen little of it. These are the institutions that process loans for local businesses, help families buy homes, and serve communities that larger banks often overlook. They are also the ones still relying on manual processes that slow down operations and add cost.
The round included participation from Audacious Ventures, Homebrew, Btech Consortium, and Service Ventures.
The AI and automation market in banking was valued at $42.64 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $239.64 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 24.9%. A significant portion of that growth reflects demand from lending, compliance, and operations teams, areas where paper-heavy and manual workflows have proven difficult to modernize.
The problem is not that banks are unaware of AI. Most have looked at it. The issue is that previous tools were not designed to work with the complex mix of legacy systems already in place. Loan officers and compliance staff operate on core banking platforms built decades ago, and software that requires heavy technical work to deploy, or forces teams to learn new systems entirely, rarely gets past the pilot stage. Adoption fails before results ever appear.
"Financial institutions of every size are under pressure to modernize their operations, and most have been underserved by technology that wasn't built for the complexity of today's banking. Saris is changing that. Their platform delivers real, measurable results without disrupting the systems and teams institutions depend on." — Alex Kolicich, Founding Partner at 8VC
The funding will be used to bring the Saris platform to more banks and credit unions, deepen its integrations with banking technology providers Fiserv, Encompass, and MeridianLink, and expand the team that trains and deploys its agents. Saris builds each deployment around the specific workflows and systems of the institution it is working with, so the people who set up and maintain those agents are central to how the business scales.
Lending is the area where the platform has shown the most impact so far. Saris says up to 70% of consumer, mortgage, and commercial lending tasks can be automated on its platform, with per-workflow costs reduced by up to 35%.
"We needed an AI strategy with a clear ROI, something that can help us compete and grow using existing resources. Saris provided a single, end-to-end solution that streamlines workflows and integrates with our existing technology for easy adoption. The results have been incredible and appreciated by our teams. It's clear that Saris built this solution with bankers in mind." — Matt Mayo, CRO at Community Bank
Jameel holds a technology patent, was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and is an active angel investor in early-stage startups. Saris is his second significant company. He founded it after observing that financial institutions, unlike large corporations, had largely been passed over by the wave of enterprise AI tools that emerged in recent years.
The platform connects AI agents directly to a bank's existing systems, including its core banking software, loan origination tools, and document repositories. The agents handle multi-step tasks end to end, from document intake through compliance checks and system updates, while staff retain oversight and approve critical actions. Every step is logged and auditable.
"Our vision is a future where humans and AI work side by side in financial services. The best institutions won't replace people; they'll give people the leverage to do more with less strain and better serve customers and members as a result. Our platform already delivers measurable results, and this funding lets us bring that to more institutions, faster." — Danial Jameel, Co-Founder and CEO of Saris
8VC invests across enterprise software, life sciences, healthcare, and defense. Alex Kolicich, a founding partner at the firm, led the Saris investment. Audacious Ventures, Homebrew, Btech Consortium, and Service Ventures also participated.
"With Saris, we reduced manually intensive processes while improving accuracy and maintaining human oversight. Their strategy to focus on high-impact business cases and close collaboration with our team helped us deliver meaningful changes to our customers." — Diana Hennel, CTO and SVP at Catalyst Corporate Credit Union
