Lendesca, an AI-native originating lender service provider, has announced the acquisition of SBA Collective, the lender service provider firm founded by SBA industry veteran Ray Drew. As part of the acquisition, Drew is joining Lendesca as chief revenue officer, and members of the SBA Collective team will also join the company. The deal also brings with it the network of community and regional bank and credit union relationships Drew has built over more than a decade in SBA lending.

The two companies were built on the same core premise: a shrinking number of institutions now originate a growing share of SBA 7(a) volume, and as that concentration increases, small business owners lose the local lending relationships that made the program work in the first place. The 7(a) program is the SBA’s flagship offering, with the agency guaranteeing up to 85% of a qualifying loan so that participating lenders can extend credit to small businesses that might not qualify for conventional financing. Drew publicly made that argument when he launched SBA Collective, while Lendesca CEO Chris Hurn, who previously founded the nonbank SBA lender Fountainhead Commercial Capital, has made a similar case for much of his career.

“Ray got his start in SBA lending working for me, and he has spent the years since becoming one of the most credible voices in the SBA industry,” said Chris Hurn, CEO of Lendesca. “We arrived at the same conclusion from different directions. Lenders are exiting the SBA because the operational burden often no longer justifies the return, and the borrowers who need the program most are the ones who lose out. Bringing Ray back is a full-circle moment for both of us.”

Drew founded SBA Collective in early 2025 after a career originating SBA 7(a) loans and building lending programs for national financial institutions. He also hosts “The Art of SBA Lending,” one of the industry’s first podcasts, which over a six-year run has become a gathering place for the SBA community. Guests have included former SBA Administrator Jeanne Hulit and Live Oak Bank CEO Chip Mahan. The show has also led to two spinoff programs and two of the industry’s most sought-after events, the Director’s Retreat and the BDO Retreat.

As chief revenue officer, Drew will lead Lendesca’s lender partnerships, referral channels, and business development efforts, with a focus on helping community and regional financial institutions launch and expand government-guaranteed lending programs.

“I built SBA Collective to tackle problems this industry has talked about for as long as I’ve been in it — like the fact that only about 13% of eligible lenders participate in 7(a) lending, despite it being one of the most attractive asset classes available to them,” said Drew. “Somewhere along the way, it became clear to me that technology was going to play a major role here, and when I began to use Lendesca’s loan intelligence system, it was like looking into the future. Now with more resources at my disposal, I can continue my mission to push SBA lending forward like never before.”

The program’s appeal to lenders rests partly on that government guarantee and on an active secondary market, where the guaranteed portions of 7(a) loans are sold to investors, providing liquidity to the originating lender. Lendesca’s model is designed to add SBA volume and lending capacity to financial institutions, either by working alongside existing teams or by providing an institution with the full infrastructure needed to launch a program without building one from scratch. Operating as a lender service provider under each lender’s credit policy and oversight, Lendesca handles the full lending lifecycle, including borrower sourcing, packaging, underwriting, closing, secondary market execution, and ongoing servicing across SBA 7(a), USDA Business & Industry, USDA Community Facilities, and commercial term loans.

The company says its approach allows partner institutions to grow SBA volume without adding business development or loan operations headcount, and without the fixed costs associated with those functions. By Drew’s own figure, roughly 87% of eligible lenders still sit outside 7(a) lending, and narrowing that gap is what his new remit — lender partnerships, referral channels, and business development — is now aimed at. The announcement did not say how “The Art of SBA Lending,” its spinoff programs, or the Director’s Retreat and BDO Retreat will operate under the combined company.