The Zest AI office recently had a bit of a movie moment.
"There couldn’t have been more energy and excitement," said Zest AI CEO Mike de Vere. "It reminds me of, have you ever seen the movie 300? That’s what was happening. No joke, in the office, a bunch of data scientists, engineers, and client-facing folks were all cheering together because it’s been a heck of a journey."
The news was straightforward but memorable: Zest AI—a company providing AI-powered credit scoring and underwriting solutions for financial institutions—has received a $200 million growth investment from Insight Partners, the company exclusively told Fortune (after telling the employees, of course). Insight, with TruStage Ventures, led Zest’s Series F back in 2022. Other previous Zest investors include, but aren’t limited to, Northgate Capital, Suncoast Credit Union, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix, Upfront Ventures, and Flybridge, according to Crunchbase.
Founded in 2009, Zest isn’t new, but has found itself exceedingly on-trend in the AI boom. The company’s generative AI-powered "lending intelligence companion" is named Lulu, after an office Corgi. At a time when algorithmic bias is a key AI concern (and is especially true when it comes to use cases in finance and lending), De Vere is aware of the wide range of ethical outcomes AI needs to manage.
"My grandpa was a carpenter, and he had his hammer," said De Vere, who joined Zest first as COO in 2018, becoming CEO in 2020. "When I apprenticed with him as a young kid, he’d always joke with me: 'Grandson, this hammer—I could help build a house. We could grow a family, it could be something good. But at the same time, if you get out of line, I’ll hit you over the head with it.' So, AI is no different. You can do good with it. You can do evil with it."
This new round from Insight will be used to develop products and chase M&A. But, of course, I had to ask: Is an IPO in the future?
"God, I hope so," said De Vere. "I don't actually know, but the next three to five years. We're only limited by our imagination. This team of people is really excited about the future…I’m really bullish."
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