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ProfileCompany or group

Harvest Small Business Finance

Lender or loan platform

PPP · PPPLF
Type
Company or group
Role
Lender or loan platform
Programs
PPP, PPPLF
Updated

The profile

Individuals and companies whose conduct was challenged or called into question during or after the pandemic. See sources: House fintech report, Dec. 1, 2022

  • Type: Nonbank SBA 7(a) and commercial real estate lender. Not a marketplace. Not a CDFI.
  • Legal entities: Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC (HSBF), the PPP lender of record and PPPLF borrower. Affiliated entity Harvest Commercial Capital, LLC (HCC), a separate LLC specializing in SBA 504 and conventional CRE securitizations, also majority-owned by a Medalist affiliate, launched February 2016. The two entities share Laguna Hills, CA headquarters, the same Medalist parent, and leadership (Adam Seery serves as COO on the HSBF PPP partnership release, and by 2026 as CEO of HCC). Their precise legal relationship to each other has not been confirmed through corporate filings.
  • Founded / affiliation: HSBF is majority-owned by an affiliate of Medalist Partners, LP, an SEC-registered investment manager (Business Wire releases, Medalist's AUM figures are in those releases).
  • HQ: Laguna Hills, California.
  • Leadership: Adam Seery, COO at the time of the April 2021 Womply partnership announcement; CEO of Harvest Commercial Capital by the February 2026 merger announcement. No named CEO of HSBF has been located in public filings.
  • Role in PPP: SBA-authorized lender of record for 408,173 PPP loans (lender-fee table). Became Womply's primary lender-of-record channel in the 2021 program rounds. The borrower funnel, the SBA guarantee, the processing fee, and the Federal Reserve liquidity facility all ran through HSBF.

In the archive

Pandemic-role map

  • Reader shorthand: nonbank SBA lender of record and Womply's largest 2021 lender channel by volume.
  • What Harvest did for borrowers: funded small-dollar PPP loans under its own SBA authority, mostly in the 2021 rounds.
  • What Harvest bought from other companies: used Womply as a major borrower-intake and routing partner, while funding its book through the PPPLF and its own nonbank lending infrastructure.
  • Where responsibility sat: Harvest Small Business Finance held the SBA lender role and PPPLF borrower position; Womply supplied the front-end funnel for a large part of the 2021 surge.

Before the pandemic (pre-March 2020)

Harvest's pitch before COVID was direct: a nonbank lender for small-business borrowers who had been turned down by large, regional, and community banks. Its 2020 homepage advertised commercial real estate loans and described HSBF as "FASTEST GROWING NON-BANK SBA LENDER IN THE COUNTRY," stating the Medalist Partners affiliation with "approximately $2.5 billion in assets under management." SBA 7(a) approval gave it the authority to originate PPP loans from the first day the program was open.

During the pandemic (March 2020 – mid 2021)

Round one: a smaller book, then stop

HSBF participated in the first PPP round but closed its intake early. The May 6, 2020 homepage capture shows a PPP notice already in place: "Harvest is no longer accepting Paycheck Protection Program applications at this time. We are working diligently to process current PPP applications that were submitted by 5 PM, April 28, 2020."

No fintech partner is named on that page. The project's supply-chain table puts Harvest's estimated SBA processing fees from the 2020 round at roughly $39.0 million, about 4% of its total estimated fee income over both program periods.

Round two: portal opens, Womply listed

By January 26, 2021, a "HARVEST PPP PORTAL NOW OPEN!" headline on the Harvest homepage announced intake for three borrower categories: first-draw applicants, second-draw applicants who had Harvest loans in 2020, and second-draw applicants switching lenders from another institution. The page listed document requirements by category, a borrower-verification step before SBA submission, and a forgiveness resource library. Still no fintech partner was named on the page itself. Harvest presented a self-branded portal rather than a Womply front end.

The publicly documented Womply connection comes from two sources. Womply's PPP Fast Lane FAQ, captured on April 5, 2021, listed Harvest Small Business Finance among its partner and originating lenders alongside Cross River Bank, Fountainhead, Funding Circle, Lendio, and SmartBiz. Then on April 20, 2021, BusinessWire carried Womply's formal partnership announcement, quoting HSBF COO Adam Seery on the partnership and Womply CEO Toby Scammell on the number of small businesses the two companies aimed to help.

The public partner pages and SBA loan-level data identify Harvest's fintech channel as Womply but do not provide a complete loan-by-loan audit. Not every Harvest PPP loan is documented as having come through Womply.

408,173 loans, about $8.19 billion

Project lender-fee table:

  • 408,173 PPP loans originated
  • about $8.19 billion in PPP volume
  • about $1,002.6 million estimated SBA processing fees
  • Average loan: about $20,057

The fee breakdown by round:

RoundEstimated fees
PPP 2020about $39.0 million
PPP 2021 (first and second draw)about $963.6 million
Totalabout $1,002.6 million

Roughly 96% of Harvest's estimated SBA processing fees came from the 2021 program (supply-chain table).

PPPLF peak of about $11.52 billion, roughly 141% of originations

In the Federal Reserve's PPPLF data, "HARVEST SMALL BUS FNC" appears with the following figures:

  • 120 advances
  • about $12.73 billion cumulative gross advances
  • about $11.52 billion peak outstanding (2021-07-13)
  • 0.35% interest rate

The peak-PPPLF-to-originated-volume ratio ($11.52 billion against $8.19 billion of originated loans) comes to roughly 141%. A PPPLF borrower could pledge loans purchased from other lenders, and gross advances can include re-borrowing or turnover across reporting periods. The ratio does not mean Harvest borrowed against loans that did not exist; it means Harvest's PPP business cannot be read from the origination line alone. Government-guaranteed PPP paper could be pledged to the Fed at 0.35%; PPP loans paid 1%; and SBA paid the processing fee on top.

The fee split is undocumented; Harvest approved Womply's own PPP loans

No public source documents the precise Harvest-to-Womply fee split in the way the Benworth agreements (which were introduced in arbitration) document that lender's arrangement. The Benworth tiered tech-fee structure (50% to 80% of SBA fees back to Womply, depending on loan volume) is documented in the Benworth case record. Whether Harvest's terms were similar has not been established from the public record.

Womply's own PPP loans, approved by Harvest, and their forgiveness outcome are documented in the Womply profile (SBA loan data cited there).

A June 8, 2021 message from Lendistry's CEO to Womply CEO Toby Scammell and Harvest's Adam Seery flagged a "meaningful increase in the number of third-party and other inquiries related to fraud associated with applicants coming through Harvest." The message is quoted in the House Select Subcommittee's December 2022 report; any response from Harvest is not on the public record.

In borrower-fraud prosecutions Harvest was the lender, not the defendant

Harvest appears in the criminal case record as the lender through which fraudulent applications moved. No located case charges Harvest.

The E.D. Missouri cluster. A group of indictments filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri — United States v. Katrina Taper & Tiara West, United States v. Velma Taper & Tiara West, United States v. Dortatius L. Hill, and United States v. Keesa Seaniya Lynn Green — describe PPP applications submitted through Harvest with fabricated IRS Schedule C forms producing loans of roughly $20,833 each, with Tiara West appearing as a co-conspirator across multiple cases (the indictments' portal language, income figures and filing dates are cited to the indictments).

The indictments (cited) do not name the Womply platform.

United States v. Shibley (W.D. Wash.). Eric Shibley was convicted at trial in 2021 on PPP and EIDL fraud counts (see his profile); the government's trial brief identifying Harvest Small Business Finance and Celtic Bank as the primary lenders used, and the sentencing positions, are in the case file.

A qui tam in which Harvest received a subpoena

The caption "Quesenberry v. Harvest Small Business Finance" is a mislabel.

The actual case is United States ex rel. Quesenberry v. SPE MB Atlantic Palms LLC et al., No. 1:25-cv-00337 (N.D. Ga., Judge Mark H. Cohen). The defendants are SPE MB Atlantic Palms LLC (a hotel entity), Rishi Patel, Mukesh C. Patel, and Ayesha Patel: PPP borrowers, not a lender. Harvest Small Business Finance appeared in this case in January 2026, when Quesenberry filed a notice of subpoena to Harvest as a third-party document custodian, shortly before the court stayed the case pending the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC (No. 24-13581), a constitutional challenge to the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions; the case was administratively closed on January 14, 2026.

Harvest was not a defendant in that case. It was a subpoena target for loan records related to the Patels' PPP applications. The case has not been resolved on the merits, and Harvest received no FCA claim in it.

After the pandemic (mid 2021 – present)

SBA investigations announced, December 2022

Following the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis December 1, 2022 fintech-PPP report, the SBA announced it had opened investigations into a list of lenders that included Harvest (SBA statement). The SBA simultaneously suspended Womply and Blueacorn. No SBA suspension of HSBF has been located. The December 2022 investigation announcement is the strongest SBA-side action against Harvest currently on the public record, and its resolution has not been publicly disclosed.

Securitizations

HSBF SBA 7(a) securitizations (Business Wire releases):

  • December 2023: fourth HSBF securitization ($115.7 million, rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency)
  • December 2024: fifth HSBF securitization ($95.2 million, Harvest SBA Loan Trust 2024-1, rated by Morningstar DBRS; the second REMIC-structured SBA securitization)
  • October 2025: sixth HSBF securitization ($87.8 million, Harvest SBA Loan Trust 2025-1, rated by Morningstar DBRS; the third REMIC-structured SBA securitization)

HCC SBA 504 / CRE securitizations (Business Wire release):

  • February 2025: fourth HCC securitization ($264.6 million, HCCLT 2025-1, rated by DBRS, led by Mizuho Securities USA)

By the December 2024 HSBF release, Medalist Partners had approximately $1.8 billion in net assets under management. By the February 2026 HCC merger announcement, that figure was approximately $2.4 billion as of December 31, 2025 .

The February 2026 Harvest Commercial Capital / Crossroads merger

On February 23, 2026, Harvest Commercial Capital, LLC announced a merger with Crossroads Impact Corp (CRSS) (Business Wire release, Feb. 23, 2026; we have a copy), describing HCC as majority-owned by a Medalist affiliate and identifying Adam Seery as CEO of HCC and Eric Donnelly as CEO of Crossroads.

The merger announcement names Harvest Commercial Capital (HCC), not Harvest Small Business Finance (HSBF); whether the transaction affects HSBF's legal standing, license or structure has not been confirmed through regulatory filings.

The merger connects the Harvest complex to the Blueacorn/Capital Plus side of the PPP lender-channel map: Crossroads Impact Corp. has a connection to that side through Capital Plus Financial, Blueacorn's primary PPP lender of record. Capital Plus subsequently became part of the Crossroads structure.

Where Harvest doesn't appear

  • House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, December 1, 2022 fintech-PPP report ("We Are Not the Fraud Police"): Harvest is not a primary subject. The report's case studies are Blueacorn, Womply, Kabbage, Bluevine, Cross River, and Customers Bank. Harvest is mentioned in the context of Womply's lender network and is listed among lenders the SBA said it was investigating after the report.
  • SBA December 2022 suspensions: Harvest was not suspended. Womply and Blueacorn were suspended; Harvest and other lenders were listed for investigation.
  • False Claims Act settlement or judgment against HSBF: none located.
  • DOJ criminal charges against Harvest or its officers: none located.
  • FTC enforcement action against Harvest: none located. The FTC's March 2024 PPP enforcement was against Biz2Credit/Itria and Womply.
  • Bankruptcy filings: none. HSBF and HCC remain operating entities.

Current posture (as of mid-2026)

HSBF continues as an active SBA 7(a) lender, majority-owned by an affiliate of Medalist Partners, LP. Harvest Commercial Capital announced a merger with Crossroads Impact Corp on February 23, 2026, and both entities continue to operate under their respective brands. The December 2022 SBA investigation has not been publicly resolved. No federal enforcement order against HSBF has been identified as of the date of this profile.

  • Benworth Capital Partners — Womply's second-largest Fast Lane partner; Federal Reserve PPPLF clawback suit; confidential settlement September 2025
  • Fountainhead — Womply Fast Lane partner; same House Select Subcommittee context
  • Capital Plus Financial / Crossroads Systems — Blueacorn's primary PPP lender; Crossroads is the February 2026 merger partner of HSBF's affiliate Harvest Commercial Capital (HCC)
  • Biz2Credit — the in-house version of the fintech-lender model; $33M FTC settlement; for structural comparison

Sources

Primary documents in this archive

  • Harvest homepage capture, May 6, 2020: harvest homepage ppp 2020-05-06
  • Harvest PPP portal capture, January 26, 2021: harvest ppp portal 2021-01-26
  • Womply / Harvest partnership press release, April 20, 2021: 2021-04-20 Womply Harvest
  • Womply Fast Lane FAQ capture, April 5, 2021 (Harvest listed in lender roster): womply ppp faq common fast lane 2021-04-05
  • Womply PPP network roster capture (April 17, 2021 and August 5, 2021): womply ppp network 2021-04-17 and 2021-08-05
  • Lender-fee table: lender_fees.csv, row "Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC"
  • PPPLF lender table: ppplf_by_lender.csv, row "HARVEST SMALL BUS FNC"
  • Federal Reserve PPPLF archive note (PPPLF caveat language): README
  • E.D. Missouri Harvest SBF cluster overview: CLUSTER OVERVIEW
  • Individual E.D. Missouri case summaries: Taper Katrina; Taper Velma; Hill Dortatius; Green Keesa
  • United States v. Shibley, W.D. Wash. No. 2:20-cr-00174.
  • Quesenberry qui tam corrected summary (Harvest as subpoena target, not defendant): Quesenberry v Harvest gand 1-25-cv-00337 CONSOLIDATED SUMMARY; README: README
  • Lender-accountability economics table: row for Harvest
  • Fintech partner-bank supply-chain table and note
  • Womply cross-reference (Lendistry CEO message; Womply PPP loans approved by Harvest; SBA investigation list): Profile: Womply

External references

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