Lendesk, a Canadian FinTech company providing technology to connect mortgage brokers with the country’s top lenders, has announced that Rock Holdings, the parent company of Quicken Loans, has acquired a majority stake in the company. Under the agreement, Lendesk will continue to operate independently from its Vancouver headquarters under the leadership of Alex Conconi, the company’s founder and CEO.
“Rock Holdings and Quicken Loans are FinTech pioneers, known for revolutionizing the mortgage industry with game-changing technology like Rocket Mortgage while also providing unmatched service to their clients—whether that’s for consumers or Quicken Loans’ thousands of American mortgage partners,” says Conconi. “At Lendesk, we are passionate about simplifying the home-loan process for brokers and lenders in Canada. Our partnership with Rock Holdings will allow us to gain wisdom and insight from the world’s leading mortgage technology company as we continue to improve the entire experience, from the time of application through closing.”
Lendesk launched its proprietary, direct-to-lender, mortgage application network in Oct. 2018, to transform what was once a complicated process, involving multiple touchpoints and channels of communication, into one streamlined mortgage origination process. By serving as the single point of contact for brokers to submit, and lenders to approve, mortgage applications, while assuring all paperwork is completed efficiently and accurately, Lendesk and its proprietary technology platform has closed the costly communication and workflow gap that was plaguing the industry.
In its place, brokers and lenders are able to collaborate effortlessly, creating a fast, efficient, secure lending experience for all involved. The platform has gained the support of many of Canada’s largest institutional lenders, who have integrated their underwriting systems with Lendesk’s broker-facing systems, enabling their broker partners to provide a digital experience to their clients while improving process efficiency and removing the opportunity for fraud and errors with features like direct-from-source data capture.
Detroit-based Rock Holdings is the parent to several American FinTech brands including Quicken Loans, Rocket Homes and Rocket Loans. The brands share a belief that, with the help of technology, complicated finances can be made simple. This has been a driving force for Quicken Loans, which created Rocket Mortgage, the first fully personalized home loan experience. Ninety-eight percent of all home loans originated by Quicken Loans now utilize Rocket Mortgage technology.
As a result of this investment, Lendesk will gain the skill and knowledge of Rock Holdings’ diverse portfolio of FinTech companies, accelerating the growth of Lendesk’s mortgage origination platform for the benefit of all Canadian brokers and lenders, regardless of brand or affiliation.
“It is very rare that you come across a new company that understands the important role that culture, technology, client service and innovation play in its success,” says Jay Farner, CEO of Rock Holdings. “In a short amount of time, the team at Lendesk has built technology to streamline communication and workflow between mortgage brokers and lenders in Canada, and established a strong network of brokers and lenders who are connected through Lendesk’s new platform. Ultimately the technology will benefit Canadian consumers, who will experience a smoother and quicker mortgage process. We look forward to working closely with the Lendesk team supporting them in their mission to innovate and reinvent the mortgage process for all of Canada.”
This is the second investment Rock Holdings has made in Canada over the past two years. In 2017, Rocket Homes, a subsidiary of Rock Holdings Inc., purchased Toronto-based OpenHouse Realty, a company specializing in the development of proprietary home and real estate agent search technology.
In addition, Quicken Loans recently announced plans to open a 100-person technology center downtown Windsor, Ontario, just across the Detroit River from Quicken Loans’ Detroit headquarters.
These investments in Canadian technology companies and labor are examples of the confidence from Rock Holdings in the future of the Canadian technology industry and workforce.
Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
For more information, please visit www.quickenloans.com.
