Parafin and Gusto Partner to Launch a Payroll Line of Credit for Small Businesses

September 18, 2025 at 16:20 PM EDT

Parafin, a leading provider of embedded financing, today announced a strategic partnership with Gusto, a leading platform for small businesses to manage their payroll, HR and benefits, serving more than 400,000 businesses. Together, the companies launched Payroll Bridge, powered by Parafin, which offers a line of credit to cover payroll.

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Parafin and Gusto partner to launch a payroll line of credit for small businesses

For many small businesses, payroll is the single most important and time-sensitive expense. Even a short-term cash flow gap can put employers in the difficult position of delaying paychecks or making trade-offs that hurt their business. Payroll Bridge was designed to solve this challenge, giving business owners a simple, transparent way to access financing directly within Gusto so their employees get paid on time.

“Partnering with Gusto allows us to solve one of the most pressing challenges for small businesses—ensuring they can make payroll even if cash flow is tight,” said Vineet Goel, Chief Product and Technology Officer and Co-founder at Parafin. “This launch illustrates the broader potential of embedded financing to make credit available at the exact moment it’s needed.”

“Too often, small businesses struggle with short-term cash flow gaps that can put payroll at risk. Payroll Bridge, developed in partnership with Parafin, and delivered through Gusto Money, helps close that gap by making it easier for business owners to manage cash flow and keep their teams paid on time. Together, we’re innovating and building tools designed specifically for the realities of running a small business.” — Dan Loomis, GM and VP of Gusto Money

Payroll Bridge leverages Pay Over Time, Parafin’s newest product, which allows businesses to defer payment on any expense directly at the point of need. Pay Over Time expands beyond Parafin’s capital products with an installment-style credit option. Unlike Parafin’s existing products, which use platform sales data for underwriting, Pay Over Time introduces a new model that analyzes unstructured banking activity to create a clear, real-time picture of business health.

With Payroll Bridge, Parafin and Gusto are setting a new standard for how small businesses manage payroll, giving them access to a line of credit right when it’s needed to keep employees paid on time. This partnership reflects their shared vision: empowering entrepreneurs with the tools to run their businesses with confidence.

About Parafin

Parafin is a financial infrastructure company that provides platforms with access to embedded financial products for their small businesses by abstracting the complexity of capital markets, underwriting, servicing, compliance, and customer support. By powering the financial services of marketplaces, vertical SaaS platforms, and payment processors, small businesses can run and grow despite uncertain economic conditions.

Within a few years, Parafin has launched with Amazon, Walmart, DoorDash, and more platforms to serve hundreds of thousands of businesses and has extended over $14 billion in offers. Parafin was founded in 2020 by Sahill Poddar, Vineet Goel, and Ralph Furman, and is backed by Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, GIC, Notable Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. For more information about Parafin, please visit parafin.com or contact media@parafin.com.

About Gusto

Gusto is a leading provider of cloud-based payroll, benefits, and HR solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. Gusto serves over 400,000 businesses nationwide. Each year Gusto processes tens of billions of dollars of payroll and provides employee benefits—like health insurance and 401(k) accounts—while helping companies create incredible workplaces. Through one refreshingly easy, integrated platform, Gusto automates and simplifies payroll, benefits, and HR, all while providing expert support.

Disclosures

All lines of credit are issued by Celtic Bank. All lines of credit and offers are subject to credit approval, identity verification, and are subject to periodic review and may change without notice. Lines of credit are governed by the Line of Credit Agreement and Parafin’s Privacy Policy. Bank transfers are subject to review.

Gusto provides access to Payroll Bridge through its partnership with Parafin. Payroll Bridge is offered by Parafin, not Gusto. Gusto does not review applications, make credit or lending decisions, provide credit, service loans, or collect repayments.