A Google executive has been named CEO of the British startup OakNorth, one of several European fintechs expanding into the United States.
Sunil Chandra spent the last 12 and a half years at Google; most recently he was a vice president responsible for talent acquisition and operations globally. Chandra also was chief operating officer for technology at Barclays Capital between 2004 and 2006.
OakNorth, a small-business lender, "in a short period of time ... has identified a key segment of the market that is underserved, proven that thesis with the profitable OakNorth Bank in the U.K., and is now scaling the solution globally by licensing its platform to other lending institutions,” Chandra said in a news release Monday.
He will be based in the United Kingdom.
Earlier this year OakNorth said it planned to market itself as a technology partner for U.S. banks of all sizes.
“The target here for licensing the platform-as-a-service actually goes from the large money center banks to the superregionals and to the community banks. It’s a combination,” OakNorth co-founder Rishi Khosla told
Small-business loans of $1 million to $25 million are OakNorth's specialty in the U.K. It will license its origination technology to banks worldwide.
Twelve banks are using the company's platform, including three in the United States, a spokeswoman said. She declined to name the banks. OakNorth is at different stages of testing with some two dozen U.S. banks, she said.
Other European fintechs looking to gain a U.S. foothold include the German
