Former Credit Suisse board member Gaël de Boissard and ex-Deutsche Bank COO Henry Ritchotte have invested in James, a startup using artificial intelligence to tackle credit risk.
The two heavyweights were joined in the oversubscribed $2.7 million round by BiG Start Ventures, with de Boissard joining the James board.
Formerly known as CrowdProcess, James says that it is building the first credit risk AI and has been testing its product with more than 25 financial institutions, from tier one banks to alternative lenders, across three continents.
The firm, which won the Money20/20 Europe Startup Competition last year, claims a track record of helping these banks achieve up to 30% default rate reductions and 10% acceptance rate increases.
Now, it is focusing on growth, with lead researcher Pedro Fonseca handing over the role of CEO to his co-founder João Menano, who built the company’s international commercial reach. The new funds will be used on building up the company's team, particularly in the US.
Says de Boissard: "Having worked in banking and credit for more than two decades, I was always surprised to see how little progress was being made in advancing the science, data analysis, and process automation around credit risk. When I met James I knew that was the future I'd been looking for, and I'm incredibly excited to be part of implementing the first credit risk AI."