Pagaya mulls NY and UK Sales Teams
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PAGAYA MULLS NY AND UK SALES TEAMS
TIM LEEMASTER
Pagaya, the Tel Aviv, Israel-based asset management company using AI, is considering building a sales team in New York and possibly London, according to Chief Investment Officer Ed Mallon.
The company currently has about 30 AI and data specialists in New York and Tel Aviv.
Pagaya has traditionally headhunted from the ranks of Talpiot, a technology division of the Israeli military, where co-founder Avital Pardo served. Chief Business Officer Adam Schreier is also a Talpiot veteran.
“We’re continuing to add staff … from similar units of the Israeli army,” Mallon said. “One of the areas we’re looking at now is sales people in New York and possibly London.”
He declined to provide specific numbers.
Pagaya just raised USD 25m in a Series C funding led by Oak HC/FT. The fund in September led the company’s USD 14m Series B, which also included former American Express CEO Harvey Golub.
Oak HC/FT has been on an AI investment tear of late with a USD 32.8m Series D for Olive, the Columbus, Ohio-based company using AI to cut healthcare costs, and a USD 30m Series B in Groundspeed Analytics, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based firm developing AI-backed insurance processes, according to deals we have tracked.
Pagaya also plans to use proceeds of the fund raising to develop its technology into new areas, including auto financing and real estate mortgages, from the unsecured consumer credit it has focused on since the company was founded three years ago.
Mallon said the company, which manages about USD 450m for institutional investor clients, planned to launch the auto financing business later this year.
Pagaya buys individual loans from lending platforms that include LendingClub, Upstart, Social Finance, or SoFi, and plans to follow a similar model with auto loan originators and single-family home brokers, or in some cases real estate platforms such as Rootstock.
About half the company’s business is bespoke investment products for specific clients and half general products that investors can pick and choose from, Mallon said. Standard product life-span is about 18 months.
In February, Pagaya raised USD 100m in an asset backed security managed by AI.