Tech firm LendingStandard raises $600K, lands big client
January 5, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Kansas City-based tech firm LendingStandard announced Thursday that it’s closed on an angel capital round of $600,000.
CEO Andy Kallenbach said he’s pleased with the direction of the startup, which created software for multi-family lender organizations. Kallenbach added that he’s excited by what opportunities the financing affords LendingStandard.
“This investment will allow us to develop new targeted multifamily product solutions that will differentiate LendingStandard in the marketplace,” Kallenbach said. “Our early 2017 plans now include an additional, more substantial, investment round that will allow us to scale the business, add valuable team resources and to serve as the catalyst for new client and revenue growth.”
LendingStandard is a software-as-a-service platform on which multi-family lender organizations can receive and collaborate on documentation required to finance a commercial loan transaction. The platform helps cut about two months of work off the lending process thanks to collaborative tools and checklists that reduce errors and result in less expensive legal fees.
In other words, LendingStandard is reducing paperwork for an industry that has been stuck in the 80s. Kallenbach said that the paperwork often creates a struggle for multi-family lenders to complete, and frequently spurs additional problems.
“You may think that ‘it’s just a checklist, why can’t people just follow it?’ [about the paperwork,]” Kallenbach mused. “But, the problem is that everything is just so tedious, we’re talking over 100 different exhibits necessary for just one loan. “
Lending Standard in 2016 snagged Berkadia — the largest multi-family lender company in the United States — as a client.
“They are the 500-pound gorilla,” Kallenbach said. “I’m grateful to be working with the titan of the industry.”
After being located in downtown Kansas City for a year, LendingStandard moved to the Heartland House in Kansas City Startup Village last year. Kallenbach said the new location has made him feel at home in the community, adding that he loves what he does.
“I love being able to provide solutions to people doing tedious work and trying to make their job easier,” Kallenbach said. “I think a lot of satisfaction in our business has been able to help lenders do their job better.
In 2015, LendingStandard raised nearly $500,000. The startup also took part in the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s E-Scholars program and is a graduate of SparkLabKC.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Accelerate Tech Learning targets the (urban) core of KC’s programmer shortage
Training would-be programmers from Kansas City’s urban core isn’t about getting rich, said Joshua Clark, co-founder of Accelerate Tech Learning. But unfortunately that means it can be tricky to get underestimated students the costly education to become a certified developer in the world of information technology, added Mauri Trent, Accelerate Tech’s executive vice president of…
With Hy-vee Arena, KC Star project, southward expansion, KC Crew plans to double its players
Where KC Crew plays, growth and development follow, said founder Luke Wade. The adult sports and event company filled Kansas City’s Parade Park every night before the Urban Youth Academy broke ground on East 17th Terrace, for example, Wade said. “So it’s kind of that economic development. The same thing happened with the riverfront when…
Mycroft hopes to build community of investment backers with new online public offering
Adding to its array of successful crowdfunding efforts, Mycroft AI recently launched an online public offering that’s generating significant financial support for the startup. Thanks to 2016 changes to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s equity crowdfunding regulations, the Kansas City-based tech startup’s OPO has already amassed more than $173,000 of its $1.07 million funding goal.…
Project UK’s teen bootcamp turns problems into pitches, founders say
Giving teens the freedom to solve problems can be transformational, said Rebecca Dove. “It is believed that this generation will be more entrepreneurial-minded and want to have more freedom in their careers,” said Dove, co-founder of Project United Knowledge, which last week debuted its first Entrepreneurial Bootcamp. “So we’re just trying to rip out a…