Boston-based Eastern Bank has spun off an online loan platform for small businesses that was developed by its innovation lab into an independent company that has already raised $9 million in funding. Numerated Growth Technologies consists of a platform that allows banks to make loans in real-time by digitising their credit policies using cutting edge data and data science technology. The system was developed by Eastern Labs, which was set up three years ago by industry veteran Dan O’Malley with former members of PerkStreet Financial.
“Unlike other fintech startups, we don’t compete with or try to disrupt banks,” explained O’Malley. “We are built for banks, by a bank, funded by banks, and backed by the largest bank technology company in the world. Our mission is to build the next generation of technology to help banks grow.”
O’Malley and around 20 of his team will now move on to Numerated, which has raised $9 million in a round led by Cultivation Capital FinTech and joined by Eastern, FIS and others. Originally rolled out in December 2015 at Eastern Bank, the platform facilitated nearly $100 million in lending and executed thousands of real-time decisions on applications for credit.
The system’s success quickly drew attention from others, with nearly 100 banks approaching Eastern about it and several licensing the technology. Now, as a separate company, Numerated plans to concentrate on signing more banks, taking advantage of the desire to find new ways to drive sales outside of the branch.
