If a funder response isn't updating your submission status or the AI is classifying it incorrectly, it's usually due to email matching issues, submission status restrictions, or missing deal associations.
How AI email processing works
When a funder emails you back, MCA Pilot's AI processing goes through two stages:
Stage 1: Email matching The system checks if the sender's email domain matches one of your funders. By default, it matches against the submission email addresses you configured for that funder (the "to" and "cc" addresses). If the domain matches, it tries to find the specific submission by looking at the email thread (reply chain). If it can't match by thread, it uses AI to extract the business name from the email and searches for matching deals by legal name and DBA, then matches the email to the correct submission for that funder + deal combination.
Stage 2: Classification and action Once matched, the AI classifies the email (approved, declined, pending, or other) and checks whether it should take action based on the submission's current status:
Approved: Extracts offer details (amount, rate, term, frequency, points, fees, link, stips) and creates an offer record, then updates the submission to Approved. Will NOT update if the submission is already Approved or Funded. WILL update if currently Sent, Pending, or Declined.
Declined: Extracts decline reason and updates submission to Declined. Will NOT update if already Approved, Declined, or Funded. WILL update if currently Sent or Pending.
Pending: Extracts requested info/stips, updates submission to Pending, and creates tasks (if enabled). Will NOT update if already Approved, Declined, or Funded. WILL update if currently Sent or Pending.
Other: No action taken (irrelevant email).
Look for the AI column checkbox in your submissions table. If it's checked, that submission or offer was created/updated by AI processing.
Why a funder response wasn't picked up
1. Domain mismatch The funder replied from a different email domain than the one you submit to. For example, you submit to [email protected] but they reply from [email protected].
Fix: Add the response domain to your funder settings:
Go to Funders and open the funder
Navigate to the Submission Method tab
Add the reply domain under "Additional domains"
See AI Processing for Microsoft Accounts for detailed steps on adding domains.
2. Submission already resolved If the submission is already in a terminal status, the AI won't overwrite it:
Approved and Funded submissions will never be updated by AI (any classification)
Declined submissions won't be updated if the new email is also a decline or pending classification
This prevents the AI from accidentally changing closed deals.
3. No deal linked to the submission The submission must have a deal associated with it. If there's no deal linked, the workflow stops entirely and takes no action.
Fix: Make sure every submission has a deal attached before expecting AI processing to work.
4. Couldn't match to a submission The AI couldn't find the right submission via email thread references or business name extraction. This happens if:
The funder's email doesn't mention the business name
The deal's legal name or DBA doesn't match what's in the email
The email thread was broken (forwarded, new thread, etc.)
5. Classified as "Other" The AI determined the email was irrelevant or not a funder response (e.g., marketing emails, out-of-office replies, unrelated correspondence).
6. Offer link scraping failed For approvals that include only an offer link (no financial details in the email body), the system attempts to automatically visit the funder's portal and extract the offer data. If this fails, the offer is still created with the link saved, but financial fields will be blank and require manual entry. Common reasons for scraping failures:
The offer link expired or requires additional authentication beyond the URL
The funder portal blocks automated access or uses anti-bot protections
The portal page structure is unrecognized or dynamically loads in a way the system can't read
This doesn't prevent the offer from being created — you'll just need to manually fill in the offer details. Email-based offer data always takes priority; scraping only happens when the email body has no financial details.
IMAP configuration issues
If NO funder responses are being picked up at all, verify your IMAP settings are correct and your credentials haven't expired. Wrong IMAP settings mean the AI can't read your emails in the first place.
Still having issues?
If responses continue to not be picked up or are being misclassified, send us a message with:
The deal name
The funder name
What the funder's response said (approval/decline/pending)
What status the submission ended up in (or if it didn't update at all)
Whether the AI column checkbox is checked
We'll investigate the matching and classification logic for that specific case.