SimpleNexus Acquires LBA Ware

SimpleNexus has acquired Macon, Georgia-based LBA Ware, a software company serving the mortgage industry with incentive compensation management (ICM) and business intelligence software. The deal is expected to close today, October 19, 2021 and will bring together 325 employees in 29 states to serve 425 distinct lender customers and dozens of mortgage technology integration partners. The acquisition was announced at the Mortgage Banker's Association annual convention in San Diego this week. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2011 and based in Lehi, Utah, SimpleNexus is a homeownership SaaS product that connects borrowers, loan officers, real estate agents, and settlement service providers throughout the entire home buying process. The three-part platform of Nexus products reduces turn times and increases loan application submissions. In January 2021, TechBuzz profiled SimpleNexus as it raised $108 million in Series B funding.

This year the company has witnessed sharp growth (+48%) in the use of its platform by loan officers, a key metric used by the company. The company’s software has touched over touched more than $419 billion in loan volume so far this year.

Both companies have become perennial members of the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. Each has earned net promoter scores surpassing benchmarks for the financial services and B2B software sectors. SimpleNexus and LBA Ware are both longtime members of Mortgage Bankers Association, The Mortgage Collaborative, and the American Credit Union Mortgage Association, among other industry associations.

“Bringing LBA Ware into the SimpleNexus homeownership platform gives mortgage lenders an unprecedented array of competitive advantages across borrower engagement, loan origination and closing, as well as operations and business intelligence,” says SimpleNexus CEO Cathleen Schreiner Gates, who took the helm of the company in June, 2021, as mentioned in Buzzworthy. “This is an exciting moment for SimpleNexus. We welcome our new colleagues who share our passion for helping lenders excel in their markets.”

LBA Ware Founder and CEO Lori Brewer will join SimpleNexus as EVP and general manager. Brewer founded LBA Ware in 2008 and shepherded the bootstrapped company through thirteen years of product innovation and organic revenue growth. Initially a developer of custom software solutions for banks and mortgage lenders, LBA Ware soon made a name for itself as the creator of CompenSafe, the mortgage industry’s original and most prevalent incentive compensation management software. In 2019, LBA Ware diversified its product offerings with the introduction of LimeGear, a turnkey mortgage business intelligence platform.

“Together, LBA Ware and SimpleNexus will be able to offer mortgage lenders even more than the sum of our parts and redefine not only the digital mortgage experience but also the mortgage BI category,” Brewer says. “As consistent forces for innovation in the mortgage space, our firms have remarkably compatible cultures and complementary products. We look forward to a bright future as a unified team.”