What it does: Makes cloud-based software that lenders use to originate mortgages online.
The $2 trillion mortgage market has long been awash in paperwork. Nima Ghamsari, Blend’s CEO, and his two cofounders, Erin Collard and Eugene Marinelli, are working to change that.
The three met at data-analytics firm Palantir, and started Blend five and a half-years ago to sell white-label technology to banks and lending agencies that would allow them to move their originations to the cloud, cutting the time and pain it takes consumers to get approved and reducing the risk of making bad loans. The old process, Ghamsari says, was “broken.”
For example, he says, with the old paper-driven mortgage process, would-be borrowers would disclose how much they earn, then a week later get asked for a pay stub, and only after that would the originator do a phone verification. Blend goes through payroll processors like ADP to condense all those steps into one.
Today, Blend works with about 30 mortgage originators, including Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Mason-McDuffie Mortgage. It has raised a total of $160 million from venture firms that include 8VC, Founders Fund, Greylock Partners and Lightspeed Ventures. With more than 175 employees, its revenues should reach $25 million to $30 million this year. Ghamsari plans to expand beyond mortgages into the equally complex markets for student and auto loans.
While other fintech companies have chosen to become loan originators themselves, Ghamsari figures that by focusing exclusively on the technology, Blend can have a bigger impact on the broader industry. “Getting to this scale,” he says, “would’ve been impossible if we were going to do it ourselves.
