Lendesca Acquires SBA Collective, Names Ray Drew Chief Revenue Officer
Acquisition reunites Drew with Lendesca CEO Chris Hurn, bringing together two of the SBA industry’s most well-known
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COTTLEVILLE, Mo., Aug. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendesca, an AI-native originating lender service provider, today announced the acquisition of SBA Collective, the LSP firm founded by SBA industry veteran Ray Drew. Drew joins Lendesca as Chief Revenue Officer. Members of the SBA Collective team join Lendesca as part of the acquisition, along with the network of community and regional bank and credit union relationships he has built over more than a decade in SBA lending.
The two companies were founded on the same premise: A shrinking number of institutions now originate a growing share of SBA 7(a) volume, and as that concentration accelerates, small business owners lose the local lending relationships that made the program work in the first place. Drew made that argument publicly when he launched SBA Collective. Hurn has been making a version of it for most 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 town square for the SBA community. Guests have included former SBA Administrator Jeanne Hulit and Live Oak Bank CEO Chip Mahan. The show has since produced two spinoff programs and two of the industry’s most sought-after gatherings, 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.”
Lendesca’s innovative model adds SBA volume and lending capacity to financial institutions, either by working alongside the team lenders already have or by providing an institution with the full infrastructure to launch a program without building one from scratch. Engaged as a lender service provider under each lender’s credit policy and oversight, Lendesca carries the entire lending lifecycle — 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. Lendesca allows partner institutions to grow SBA volume without adding business development or loan operations headcount, and without the fixed costs that come with them.
Financial institutions interested in the model can learn more at www.lendesca.com.
About Lendesca
Lendesca is an originating lender service provider that extends the SBA lending capacity of financial institutions of every size, delivering the full origination infrastructure and the borrower volume to run through it, alongside the team lenders already have. Partner financial institutions retain credit authority and fund the loans they approve. The company’s leadership team averages more than 25 years of SBA lending experience and includes some of the industry’s most accomplished and widely recognized executives.
Media Contact
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