ByzFunder Appoints Former TimePayment CFO Filippo Guidi as Chief Strategy Officer

ByzFunder appointed Filippo Guidi as chief strategy officer, the small-business lender announced on October 27, 2026. Guidi joined the company in October 2026 and will oversee capital markets, strategic planning, and ventures and partnerships. He was most recently chief financial officer and chief administrative officer of TimePayment, a micro-ticket equipment lessor. PR Newswire carried the announcement.

Guidi's Mandate at ByzFunder

Guidi brings more than twenty years in finance across operating, banking and investing roles. At TimePayment he led the company's sale from Fortress Investment Group to BasePoint Capital. Earlier he was an investment banker at J.P. Morgan and Evercore Partners, and an investor at Silver Point Capital and Madison Dearborn Partners. He holds a bachelor's degree in Economics with honors from the University of Chicago.

His responsibilities span the full capital stack, including securitization, warehouse and forward-flow relationships, alongside strategic ventures, partnerships, and strategic planning, including the financial planning and analysis function. ByzFunder said the appointment reflects its commitment to expanding its reach in small-business lending and securing a larger, more diversified base of institutional funding.

"Our next phase of growth is about expanding our reach in small-business lending and securing the capital to support it," said Ilya Fridman, founder and chief executive officer of ByzFunder. "Filippo has sat where our investors sit, and he has run the finance function of a lender at scale."

Guidi said: "More than $2 billion funded across over 35,000 businesses is not a pitch deck, it is a track record, and it is the basis for a serious conversation with institutional capital."

ByzFunder's Capital-Markets Record

According to akta.pro company records, ByzFunder closed its inaugural $170 million KBRA-rated asset-backed securitization in June 2026, approximately 3x oversubscribed with expandable capacity to $500 million. The same records show the company appointed Ted Kelleher as Head of Capital Markets in December 2025, formalizing capital strategy and institutional-partner coverage ahead of the ABS transaction. ByzFunder reported 40% year-over-year growth in 2025 with record originations, higher approvals, and improving portfolio performance.

Earlier ByzFunder Announcements

ByzFunder launched TraceDataIQ, an AI-native underwriting intelligence platform for small-business finance, in September 2026, according to PR Newswire. The platform analyzes financial, operational, and public data to assess risk, built on over $2 billion in financing to 35,000 businesses.

In August 2026, ByzFunder launched Money Master Class, a 40-episode video series hosted by CEO Ilya Fridman designed to educate small business owners on cash flow and capital management, PR Newswire reported. That month the company was also named to the 2026 Inc. 5000, ranking No. 1,678 and climbing 615 spots from 2025, with more than $1.75 billion funded to over 30,000 small businesses since 2019.