May 2, 2005
ELLIE MAE ACQUIRES LASSO TECHNOLOGIES AND LAUNCHES ENCOMPASS® ANYWHERE
Acquisition of web-enablement technology partner gives Ellie Mae customers a single source for secure hosted delivery of the Encompass® Mortgage Management System
DUBLIN, CA—May 2, 2005—Ellie Mae Inc., the award-winning provider of innovative software and services for the mortgage industry, today announced that it has acquired Michigan-based Lasso Technologies, a developer of web-enablement solutions, which provides hosting solutions for mortgage loan origination systems. In addition, Ellie Mae is launching Encompass® Anywhere, a new hosted solution of its flagship loan origination and management system now used by over 30,000 mortgage professionals.
Brokers nationwide are striving to be more productive, agile, and profitable in today's rapidly changing mortgage marketplace. Yet remote employees and decentralized offices have become commonplace in the mortgage industry. Workers need ready access to the applications, information, and shared knowledge they need for sound decision making. With Encompass Anywhere, users can access their entire loan pipeline and all of their loan data from virtually anywhere at any time through an Internet connected PC. Technical concerns are non-existent, as absolutely no network or PC setup is required. Mortgage professionals can focus on their core business: closing more loans.
"Lasso Technologies was our partner of choice for customers wanting a hosted LOS solution. As one of our key technology partners, they became an icon of dependability and innovation with Ellie Mae customers," said Jonathan Corr, SVP Products, Ellie Mae. "Lasso is a natural fit for our service offerings, as we continue to expand the capabilities and flexibilities of the Encompass product line."
Lasso Technologies was founded in 2000 to allow mortgage originators to simply point to a website and securely access all the business-critical applications they needed to serve their clients-anytime, anywhere. Lasso's nationally recognized ASP (application service provider) solution, now branded as Ellie Mae's Encompass Anywhere, is based on the Citrix platform. "From the small company that can't afford an IT staff to the large enterprise with hundreds of employees, this ability delivers significant value," said Joseph Puthur, Founder and CEO of Lasso Technologies, and now Director of Hosted Services, Ellie Mae. "Lasso Technologies has been helping mortgage companies remove the IT burden from their business, allowing them to better focus on their core business: closing more loans. Now clients can have the confidence of doing business with a single vendor that provides guaranteed quality and optimal performance of Encompass in a hosted environment."
Carteret Mortgage, one of Ellie Mae's largest Encompass customers and a Lasso customer for the past year, depends on the Encompass Anywhere solution to give its loan officers the flexibility to access Encompass from anywhere. "Our staff is geographically dispersed, yet needs to have instant access to the mission-critical tools of our business," said Eric Weinstein, President and CEO of Carteret. "The convenience of the Encompass hosted solution, together with the unparalleled benefits of Encompass and the ironclad security model they share, gives us a competitive edge that just can't be matched by any traditional loan origination systems. This acquisition brings together these two complementary technologies under the respected Ellie Mae brand."
In addition to Joseph Puthur, several other key Lasso staff members joined the Ellie Mae team. Ellie Mae and Lasso Technologies are both privately held firms, and financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Brokers interested in more information about Ellie Mae and Encompass Anywhere should visit www.EncompassAnywhere.com.
About Ellie Mae, Inc.
Ellie Mae, Inc. is an award-winning provider of software and services for the mortgage industry, which has been recognized in each of the past three years as one of the fastest growing companies in the California Bay Area, and most recently has been named to the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies. Ellie Mae provides a comprehensive line of products and services including the company's flagship Encompass® mortgage management system, Contour™ and Genesis™ loan origination software, Executive Web Sites for mortgage brokers, and Ellie Mae Docs services for document processing. Ellie Mae's ePASS® Network is the mortgage industry's online transaction platform enabling 40,000+ mortgage companies in the United States to easily do business online with leading lenders and nearly 100,000 settlement service providers. Ellie Mae is based in Dublin, California. To learn more about Ellie Mae, visit www.elliemae.com or call (925) 227-7000.
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Ellie Mae, Encompass, ePASS, and Genesis 2000 are registered trademarks, and Contour, Executive Websites, and Ellie Mae Docs are trademarks, of Ellie Mae, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Contacts:
| Katie Drake Ellie Mae, Inc. (925) 227-7719 |
© 2005. GKM Management LLC. All Rights Reserved.
