---
title: Lenders Deserved Better. So We Built Blooma.
description: Born from industry frustration and built with AI, Blooma empowers CRE lenders to automate underwriting, speed up deals, and make smarter decisions.
image: https://www.blooma.ai/hubfs/AdobeStock_566020260.jpeg
---

# Lenders Deserved Better. So We Built Blooma.

Born from industry frustration and built with AI, Blooma empowers CRE lenders to automate underwriting, speed up deals, and make smarter decisions.

[ Lindsay Curry ](https://www.blooma.ai/blog/author/lindsay-curry)

 Feb 19, 2025

---

We have some **exciting things on the horizon** at Blooma—new innovations, expanded capabilities, and even more ways to help lenders and investors **move faster, make smarter decisions, and scale with confidence.**

As we gear up for what’s next, it’s the perfect time to revisit how Blooma got started in the first place.

 

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## **From a Conversation to a Game-Changing Idea**

Blooma wasn’t built in a vacuum—it was born out of a **real-world problem** that needed solving.

In **January 2018**, Blooma co-founder and CEO **Shayne Skaff** had a conversation with a close friend, the **founder and chairman of ABP Capital**, about **the challenges of commercial real estate (CRE) lending**. At the time, Shayne had **no background in commercial lending**, but what he heard was eye-opening:

* **“There was a lack of products to help automate the manual activity he was putting into originating and auditing his loan portfolio.”*

This sparked Shayne’s curiosity. He spent **months researching commercial lending**, trying to understand why it **lagged behind residential lending** in technology adoption. He noticed something important:

✔ The **same lenders who embraced new tech in residential lending were still stuck using outdated, manual processes in CRE**.

✔ CRE lenders weren’t **resistant to technology—they just didn’t have the right tools available**.

✔ The industry’s inefficiencies weren’t **just an inconvenience**—they were **slowing down deals, increasing costs, and creating major operational bottlenecks**.

Shayne saw this not just as **a problem, but as an opportunity.**

## **Finding the Right Team: The Start of Blooma**

With a clear market gap in mind, Shayne turned to the best technologists and product leaders he knew—people he had built companies with before.

He reached out to **Shy Blick**, a longtime business partner and one of the most advanced AI & machine learning technologists in the country. Together, they started asking a critical question:

*What if we could use AI to automate the repetitive, time-consuming parts of underwriting—allowing lenders to focus on what they’re really good at: the “art” of lending?*

Shy believed the technology existed to do it. But they also knew they needed the right product and business leader to bring the vision to life. That’s when **Tal Almog**, a proven tech entrepreneur and operator, joined the founding team.

Tal had deep experience in building and scaling AI-driven platforms and understood how to take an idea from concept to execution. He also knew that for Blooma to be successful, they couldn’t just build technology in a silo—they needed to understand lenders at a deep level.

**Together, Shayne, Tal, and Shy formed the core of Blooma’s founding team—a trio with a proven track record of building successful businesses together.**  
But unlike many startups that jump straight into building a product, **Blooma took a different approach: they went directly to the source.**

## **Built With Lenders, For Lenders**

Rather than guessing what the industry needed, Tal led an effort to **embed Blooma directly into the day-to-day workflows of actual commercial lenders.**

✔ They partnered with **three commercial real estate lending institutions** to get direct access to **underwriters and analysts**.

✔ They spent **months observing how loans were originated and how portfolios were audited**.

✔ They **mapped out existing processes**, looking for inefficiencies and areas where AI could provide **immediate value**.

*“We discovered that way too much of the time of a highly skilled analyst or underwriter is occupied with reading through tons of documents and third-party systems, pulling out pieces of information, and then pasting or keying them into other documents, spreadsheets, or systems of record.”*

Tal played a critical role in **translating these real-world lender pain points into product decisions**. The goal wasn’t just to **automate underwriting**—it was to **empower underwriters to focus on what actually matters: the artistic side of lending**.

✅ **AI could parse rent rolls, P&Ls, and tax documents instantly.**

✅ **AI could identify comps and build financial models automatically.**

✅ **AI could analyze risk factors in real-time—without requiring days of research.**

Blooma wasn’t just another fintech company trying to force **generic AI solutions** into CRE lending. It was built **with and for the lenders who would be using it**—ensuring that **every feature solved a real problem**.

## **Taking Blooma to Market**

After two years of development, **Blooma officially launched in January 2020**.

Lenders who had spent their **entire careers manually entering data, running models in Excel, and pulling information from multiple sources** saw for the first time what was possible:

✔ **Instant AI-powered deal screening**—a process that previously took days, now completed in minutes.

✔ **Automated underwriting models**—allowing underwriters to **spend more time evaluating deals, not processing paperwork**.

✔ **Real-time risk monitoring**—so lenders could see portfolio risks **before they became problems**.

And most importantly—**Blooma delivered tangible results**.

🔹 **Higher efficiency** – Underwriting time was slashed by **85%**.

🔹 **Lower costs** – Lenders saved millions by **reducing manual processes**.

🔹 **Faster deal flow** – Clients saw **immediate improvements in origination speed**.

## **Why Blooma Works: A Proven Team with Deep Industry & AI Expertise**

Many technology companies **build a product first, then look for customers**. Blooma took the **opposite approach**:

✔ **It was built with the people who use it.**

✔ **It was designed specifically for commercial real estate lending.**

✔ **It combines deep AI expertise with real-world underwriting experience.**

But just as important as **the product itself** is **the team behind it**.

🚀 **Shayne Skaff** – A proven leader in **building AI-powered platforms** and successfully bringing them to market.

🚀 **Tal Almog** – A strategic **product and operations leader** who knows how to scale technology solutions in complex industries.

🚀 **Shy Blick** – One of the **most advanced AI and machine learning technologists in the country**, responsible for Blooma’s **AI architecture and innovation**.

While none of them came from a banking or commercial real estate background. While that might seem like a disadvantage at first, it ultimately became a significant strength. By leveraging the industry expertise of the incubating banks, they combined fresh perspectives from other fields with innovative, out-of-the-box thinking. Instead of simply meeting underwriters’ existing requirements, they challenged them with new possibilities—much like how Henry Ford revolutionized transportation by offering cars instead of just faster horses.

**This wasn’t just a startup—it was a team with a track record of building, scaling, and delivering transformative AI solutions together.**

*That’s what makes Blooma different.*

 

## **What’s Next? The Future of Blooma**

> Since its launch, Blooma has continued to evolve—adding:
> 
> 🚀 **Portfolio Intelligence** – Bringing AI-powered risk monitoring to CRE lenders & investors.
> 
> 🚀 **Deeper AI integrations** – Improving the platform with **new risk models, stress testing, and predictive analytics**.
> 
> 🚀 **Equity Intelligence** (coming soon!) – Expanding into the investment side of CRE to **help funds, REITs, and private investors** make smarter decisions.

 

But **one thing hasn’t changed**—Blooma is still **listening to its customers**.

> * **“Because of how Blooma came together, I’m more convinced than ever that we need to keep listening to our customers and always continue to make improvements. After all, that’s how it all started.”*

Blooma is **reshaping the future of commercial real estate lending & investment**—and this is just the beginning.

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