Aire, a London-based alternative credit assessment company, has raised $11 million in a new round of funding. With this round of funding, Aire will continue developing its credit insight engine and expand in the U.S. Including this round, Aire has raised $23 million.
This round of funding was led by Crane Venture Partners. Orange Digital Ventures and Experian Ventures also participated in this round along with existing investors WhiteStar Capital and Sunstone Capital. A couple of years ago, Aire earned Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval and this news comes on the heels of Aire hitting more than $10 billion in credit across a variety of consumer credit categories.
“Aire is built on the premise that empowering consumers to play an active role in their credit assessment is the only way to give lenders a comprehensive view with which to make a decision,” said Aire co-founder and CEO Aneesh Varma via BankingTech.
To improve the credit decision process, Aire offers lenders the tools they need for accurately assessing thin file credit histories. And when an applicant’s credit check fails to provide necessary information, the applicant will be directed to an Aire Interactive Interview. This interview includes a series of questions that determine a high-level view of their finances based on stability and financial resilience. Then a score is created based on this data so lenders can determine the applicant’s creditworthiness for the future.
Crane Venture Partners founding partner Krishna Visvanathan said that Aire’s methodology, which combines direct consumer engagement, new data sources, and dynamic algorithm model” helps lenders make better assessments of credit risk.
