Alternative credit assessment innovator Aire has picked up $11 million in new funding. The London-based company, which demonstrated its Aire Credit API at FinovateEurope 2015, said the new capital will support the continued development of its credit insight engine, as well as support expansion in the U.S.

This week’s investment adds to the $5 million Aire raised in the summer of 2017, and takes the company’s total funding to $23 million.

“Aire is built on the premise that empowering consumers to play an active role in their credit assessment is the only way to give lenders a comprehensive view with which to make a decision,” company co-founder and CEO Aneesh Varma said.

Calling the announcement a “significant milestone,” Varma highlighted the participation of Experian Ventures, the venture arm of fellow Finovate alum and credit bureau giant, Experian. “This Series B funding is allowing us to push the Aire philosophy further into new markets, such as the U.S., as well as new sectors,” he said.

Aire improves the credit decisioning process by providing lenders with the tools they need to accurately assess thin file credit histories. When an applicant’s initial credit check reveals insufficient information, the applicant is directed to an Aire Interactive Interview. The applicant answers a series of tailored questions to create a “three-dimensional” view of their finances, focusing on issues such as affordability, stability, and financial resilience. Aire then creates and delivers a score based on this data that gives lenders insight into the applicant’s creditworthiness in the future rather than the past.

This latest funding for Aire was led by Crane Venture Partners, and featured participation from Orange Digital Ventures as well as Experian Ventures. The round comes two years after the company earned Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval, and accompanies news that Aire has scored more than $10 billion in credit across a variety of consumer credit categories.

Krishna Visvanathan, Crane Venture Partners founding partner praised Aire’s “unique contextual decisioning methodology” which he said “combines direct consumer engagement, new data sources, and (a) dynamic algorithm model” to help lenders make more accurate assessments of credit risk.

“Aire is yet another great example of a category-leading enterprise software company formed in Europe that is fundamentally changing an industry,” Visvanathan said, “and we are proud to support its new phase of growth.”

Aire was founded in 2014. The company’s partners include Zopa and the UK. arm of auto financing company, Toyota Financial Services.

Alternative credit scoring company, Aire, announced today it has raised $5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Sunstone Capital, with funds also coming from White Star Capital, which led the company’s 2016 Seed round. Aire’s funding now totals $12 million.

The London-based company plans to use the funds to drive recruitment. CEO Aneesh Varma said, “Aire has stood for an idea that people should have equal opportunities for financial products despite changing realities of work, lifestyle and careers in this modern economy.” Varma added that the new funds are a “strong vindication that we are making the right progress towards that goal.”

Founded in 2014, Aire leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer lenders new insight into borrowers with thin credit files. The company’s Interactive Virtual Interview adds a new layer of information to traditional credit bureau data. Because Aire’s credit risk analysis gives lenders access to a new pool of thin-file borrowers, the company has seen credit approvals grow by up to 14% on average, without increasing risk exposure.

Aire’s API integrates into the existing web and mobile workflows of the online credit application forms

Aire also announced strategic partnerships with P2P lender Zopa and the U.K. arm of vehicle finance company, Toyota Financial Services, who will leverage Aire’s API to enhance their underwriting and lending decisioning processes. These firms join credit card companies and high-street banks also benefitting from Aire’s API.

Earlier this year, Aire was featured in FinTechCity’s FinTech50 2017 list of top European fintechs and in January, we highlighted Aire’s role in our Fintech Filter for AI in 2017. Last year, the company made headlines when it announced it is now authorized and regulated by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, placing Aire on the same playing field as the big three credit bureaus. The company debuted its API at FinovateEurope 2015 in London.