Acorn Finance, an embedded lending marketplace for home improvement financing, has expanded its leadership team with the addition of Ozer Elbeyli as Vice President of Decision Science, Michael McGinley as Vice President of Lender Relationships and Adrian Oesterreich as Vice President of Contractor Channel.
In 2021, Acorn's revenue and the number of customers applying for loans through the Acorn Finance platform both grew by 800 percent. After closing a $8.4 million Series A funding round in January, the company is working to double its team and expand its technology to meet the demand for competitive lending options at the point of need.
"Ozer, Michael and Adrian's expertise and experience are a perfect fit for Acorn Finance," said Giri Addanki, founder and CEO of Acorn Finance. "Their contributions will be an important part of growing both our customer and lender networks – initiatives that have been made possible through the commitment of our investor partners."
As Vice President of Decision Science, Elbeyli will spearhead the analysis of multiple data streams from Acorn Finance lenders, point-of-sale partners, contractors and homeowners. He will leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning methodologies to ensure the Acorn Finance lending marketplace is working optimally to offer the best possible rates and terms to homeowners.
In his new role as Vice President of Lender Relationships, McGinley will focus on growing Acorn Finance's marketplace of lenders to include regional banks and credit unions to ensure homeowners have easy access to financing for their home improvement projects, with multiple choices of loan types and payment terms. McGinley's team will also help lenders grow their portfolios of home improvement loans by providing data, insights and support.
As Vice President of Contractor Channel, Oesterreich will lead Acorn Finance's recruitment and engagement strategies for the contractor channel with a focus on educating and building relationships. He will also analyze trends within the home improvement contractor market to position Acorn Finance for continued growth.
Elbeyli brings deep experience in consumer finance, decision science, lending, credit strategies and pricing. Previously, he was Chief Risk and Compliance Officer of JoinRoost, a start-up he co-founded. He is the former Chief Credit Officer of LendUp Global, and has led multiple pilot product launches for Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Barclays and Springleaf Finance. Elbeyli holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.
Prior to joining Acorn Finance, McGinley led a sales team at Experian focused on credit unions, and held other roles in sales, consulting, product marketing and product development. McGinley also worked in multiple risk, sales and operational roles at MBNA, First USA, Chase and TU.
Prior to joining Acorn Finance, Oesterreich was head of Contractor Partners at Point Digital Finance, one of the growing number of lenders currently on the Acorn Finance platform. He has deep experience managing and directing channel growth in the financing for home improvement space. In addition, Oesterreich brings expertise in the general contracting, property management and real estate brokerage industries. This gives him unique insight to the market for real estate development-related financing.