Most homebuyers take the first mortgage offer they receive. Not because it’s the best one…but because they think it is the only one available to them, says entrepreneur Benjamin Schieken (in featured photo).

The mortgage industry has long operated as a relationship business. Schieken thinks the transaction should actually be “programmatic.”

His startup, Fincast, is looking to make that a reality.

Fincast, an Atlanta-based fintech, is building what Schieken calls an “AI autopilot for rate shopping.” At the center of its first product is a marketplace connecting lenders and buyers. Potential homeowners bring their existing loan estimate and lenders compete for their business.

“Borrowers want better deals. Lenders’ pricing exists to give a better deal, but the matching never happened, because the transaction depended on two people finding each other,” Schieken said.

 

Why a Mortgage Marketplace

Schieken spent years in the trenches of mortgage origination, including a stretch during COVID when the market went haywire and loan volume shot through the roof…and in the aftermath when rates shot up rapidly. That moment of compressed activity turned out to be a data goldmine.

“When we were originating during COVID, it gave us the ability to see a high volume of opportunities or transactions very quickly. That wasn’t normal for mortgage,” he said. “And when you can increase any sort of statistical sample, very quickly you can start to recognize patterns.”

Two patterns emerged clearly. First, lenders were hungry to win business. Second, consumers had become acutely price-sensitive, especially as rates climbed sharply after the pandemic-era lows. Together, those two forces created the conditions for a marketplace. What was missing was the infrastructure to connect them.

The Fincast platform operates as a competitive marketplace layered on top of the existing loan estimate process. A borrower uploads or shares their current loan offer and Fincast’s AI engine shops that offer across a network of lenders who can bid to beat it.

The product is free for consumers. Lenders pay a flat fee.

 

Early Signs of Fincast Traction

Schieken launched Fincast in 2022 but emerged fully to the public in October 2025.

“Anytime that you are building a company in a highly regulated and a sensitive industry like mortgage, you have to move slow to go fast,” he told Hypepotamus.

The patience has started to pay off. To date, Fincast has received requests for more than $1.5 billion in loan volume and has processed roughly $400 million in Loan Estimates. The platform is active in all 50 states, and 33% of new customers have come through word of mouth. Reddit threads and social media videos have also proved to be fruitful growth areas as well for the emerging startup.

The dollars at stake are meaningful, says Scheiken. Money saved on a better mortgage rate isn’t abstract is cash that “could be put back into the economy,” or could be used for retirement investments or building new businesses, Schieken added.

 

Building In Atlanta’s FinTech World

For decades, Atlanta built up its reputation as a FinTech and payments town. Schieken sees Fincast as building on that tradition while becoming the city’s “FinTech infrastructure leader.”

For Schieken, who was previously building in New York City, Atlanta wasn’t just a convenient place to set up business.

“My family found Atlanta before I did, but I was pulled in by the city’s creative energy and the depth of its tech community,” he said. “Atlanta has quietly become one of the most important fintech infrastructure hubs in the country, and the startups being built here continue to reinforce that.”

 

The Look Into The Agentic Future

Schieken’s longer-term vision is more ambitious. He sees a world where AI agents handle mortgage shopping entirely on your behalf, setting up a future of true agentic commerce.

He also plans to expand Fincast beyond mortgages into a platform for other important loan documents.

“We intend to be the dedicated tool that people can use to protect themselves during these transactions and make sure they’re getting a great deal,” Schieken said.

 

Startups Redefining “Home”

Fincast is one several startups in the Southeast focused on improving the homebuying process and the work surrounding homeownership. Interested in others? Here is a curated list”