Parent Company of Quicken Loans Acquires Lendesk — Leading Canadian Mortgage Tech Startup
Rock Holdings’ investment to accelerate development of Lendesk’s mortgage origination network, streamlining Canadian mortgage broker and lender workflows while increasing security
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lendesk, Canada’s premier FinTech company providing technology to connect mortgage brokers with the country’s top lenders, today announced Rock Holdings, the parent company of Quicken Loans, the United States’ largest mortgage lender, 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,” said Alex Conconi, Founder and CEO of Lendesk. “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 October 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 to 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. 98% 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,” said 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 labour 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.
About Lendesk
Lendesk is a Canadian technology company that is modernizing the mortgage industry for Mortgage Brokers and Lenders. Lendesk is piloting a graceful Point of Sale (POS) System for Brokers and a connection to Canada’s top Institutional Lenders including Scotia Mortgage Authority (Scotiabank), First National Financial, CMLS Financial, Equitable Bank, Merix, NPX, Lendwise, and more. Secure integrations with other industry providers make for a seamless user experience while robust bank-grade security measures provide peace of mind. The company was founded in 2014 by former Mortgage Broker and private lender, Alex Conconi of Conconi Growth Partners.
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lendesk team is composed of world-class software developers, app designers and online security experts. Lendesk is SOC 2 certified and annually audited by KPMG. Lendesk recently moved to a larger office in Yaletown to accommodate its growth as it looks to scale its workforce in 2019.
For more information and company news visit Lendesk.com.
About Rock Holdings Inc.
Rock Holdings Inc. is the parent company of several FinTech businesses. These companies include Quicken Loans, America’s largest mortgage lender, its subsidiary One Reverse Mortgage, and Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (QLMS), a tech-enabled mortgage origination platform and division of Quicken Loans serving community banks and credit unions across the country; Rocket Homes, a digital platform matching clients with high-quality pre-screened real estate agents nationwide; RocketLoans, the fastest online personal loan platform in America; and Rock Connections, a national strategic marketing company specializing in outbound and inbound client service for numerous online, technology and other businesses, among others. Rock Holdings Inc. is headquartered in Detroit, where its companies employ more than 17,000 team members.
About Quicken Loans / Rocket Mortgage
Detroit-based Quicken Loans is America’s largest home mortgage lender. The company closed nearly half a trillion dollars of mortgage volume across all 50 states from 2013 through 2018. In late 2015 Quicken Loans introduced Rocket Mortgage, the first fully digital mortgage experience. Today, 98% of all home loans originated by Quicken Loans utilize Rocket Mortgage Technology.
Quicken Loans moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010. Today, Quicken Loans and its Family of Companies employ more than 17,000 full-time team members in Detroit’s urban core. The company generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Phoenix. Quicken Loans also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction for primary mortgage origination by J.D. Power for the past nine consecutive years, 2010 – 2018, and also ranked highest in the country for customer satisfaction among all mortgage servicers the past five consecutive years, 2014 – 2018.
Quicken Loans was once again named to FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list in 2019 and has been included in the magazine’s top 1/3rd of companies named to the list for the past 16 consecutive years. In addition, Essence Magazine named Quicken Loans “#1 Place to Work in the Country for African Americans.”
For more information and company news visit QuickenLoans.com/press-room.
Lendesk Media Contact:
Jen Hazell
604-738-2220
[email protected]
