GoKawiilIn 2023, after three years of building an automotive lending startup, Fuse co-founders Andres Klaric and Marc Escapa realized that LLMs could modernize something even more significant: the loan origination system (LOS), which is the backbone of the lending industry.
Frustrated by the limitations of legacy software, Klaric (pictured left), a Bolivian native, and Escapa (pictured righ), a Spanish immigrant, pivoted their business to build Fuse, an AI-native LOS.
On Monday, Fuse announced that it has raised a $25 million Series A led by Footwork, Primary Venture Partners, NextView Ventures, and Commerce Ventures.
An LOS serves as the primary system of record for most lenders, managing the entire loan life cycle: from initial application and underwriting to final approval and credit disbursement. However, traditional systems can take as long as a year to integrate and typically have multi-year, expensive contracts, Klaric said.
By leveraging AI, Fuse claims its agents can help lenders process higher loan volumes, automate underwriting, and significantly reduce operational costs.
The company, which already has over 100 customers, wants to ease credit unions’ transition to Fuse by offering the first 50 qualifying institutions free access to its platform until their current contracts with legacy LOS vendors expire. To support this, the startup has allocated $5 million for a program it’s calling a “rescue fund.”
Klaric insists that “it’s not just a marketing gimmick,” explaining that because legacy software costs are high, many credit unions cannot afford to break their current contracts to switch providers.
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