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Two entrepreneurs shared a vision

Entrepreneurs seek funding
Back in 2005, OakNorth’s founders Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman, were looking for a working capital facility to support their growing business, a financial research outsourcing company.
Computer says "No"
They approached numerous high-street banks and kept getting variations of the same response – “the computer says ‘No’. Despite being a profitable business with strong cash flow and retained clients, none of the commercial banks were willing to lend to them. It was too small a ticket to offset the costs the banks would incur in doing a fundamental assessment of their business and structuring a bespoke finance facility for them.
Commercial lenders missed out
A few months later through one of their institutional client’s special situations desk, they managed to secure 100x the amount of debt for a dividend recap. So, an institutional division of a bank was able to support them, but the commercial lending part of the bank was not. Rishi and Joel ended up scaling that business to 3,000 employees and Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO) acquired it in 2014.
The seeds for OakNorth were planted
This experience stuck with them and is what inspired the launch of OakNorth in 2015 and the creation of the OakNorth Credit Intelligence (ONci). Rishi and Joel not only wanted to build a very robust and sustainable bank in the UK (OakNorth), but also the software that would enable other banks around the world to more holistically and efficiently lend to the Missing Middle and help close the funding gap that they had experienced first hand.
The birth of Credit Intelligence

Built over five years by an engineering and credit science team of over 250 people, ONci has propelled OakNorth in the UK into the top 1% of commercial banks globally in terms of ROE, efficiency ratio, and Net Promoter Score. In addition to OakNorth, its own bank in the UK, the software is also being deployed by other leading banks around the world, including: Fifth Third, PNC, and Old National.

OakNorth Credit Intelligence is ON a mission

We are redefining the way banks lend to the Missing Middle, giving today’s entrepreneurs access to the capital they need to grow, create jobs, build communities, and power our economy. ONci gives banks a 360-view of their borrowers, delivering extraordinary insight, and enabling faster, smarter credit decisions to open up new, profitable markets. We're transforming commercial lending so entrepreneurs can thrive.

Corporate Social Responsibility

ONci believes that empowering growth businesses makes the world a more interesting, dynamic and diverse place to live. To continue reinforcing the positive impact growth businesses have on communities and economies globally, we donate 1% of our Group profits to supporting charitable causes and socially-minded enterprises. Read More

The ONci Story

Commercial Credit. Redefined.

Two entrepreneurs shared a vision

Entrepreneurs seek funding

Computer says "No"

Commercial lenders missed out

The seeds for OakNorth were planted

The birth of Credit Intelligence

OakNorth Credit Intelligence is ON a mission

Corporate Social Responsibility

Privacy and security

Let's get ON with it