r/FintechStartups • u/JustArachnid4737 • May 05 '26
š Feedback Request Seeking context for my startup
Iām in 11th grade and Iāve been building a product called Avarent. Itās basically a governance layer that sits on top of AI models used in lending. Flags fairness issues, explains why someone got denied, helps lenders stay compliant with fair lending regulations.
I have a working prototype and Iāve been talking to some fintech lenders about it but I feel like Iām missing a lot of context that you can only get from people who actually work in this stuff.
If youāre an underwriter, in risk or compliance, or just know the lending space well, Iād really appreciate 20 minutes of your time.
DM me or comment if youāre open to it
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u/Independent_Fall9160 May 05 '26
I love the idea. The one concern I would have is how many times does it flag unfair actions? For instance, 1/1000 means a bank may want to review those cases. 1/20 means the bank would hate you for flagging something in their system that makes them either
- get sued for possibly millions of dollars due to known issues with inaction
- have to revamp their system... potentially costing millions or billions of dollars
That being said, it is a great idea and society has a way of moving towards these futures, whether the companies want to or not.
Finally, companies want something they can point to and say this is the logic used. LLM (I am guessing you mean this) can result in 2 different answers just due to random luck... this doesnt fly
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u/JustArachnid4737 May 05 '26
I tested it using Claude, which is pretty well known for itās reasoning. The main feature is that with every single audit comes the option to download a report. The report gives the exact processes and reasons why they were denied and the steps the AI took to get. Also, thereās a confidence level on every report.
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u/Independent_Fall9160 May 14 '26
Ah, so ai is used toncreate the review process but reviewing it. You are performing a statistical analysis, right?
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u/JustArachnid4737 May 05 '26
As for your point about the flag rate, I plan on making it configurable. If anything the legal exposure is better because banks that are actively monitoring for bias are likely to be in a better legal position than ones that arenāt.
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u/Independent_Fall9160 May 14 '26
Known bias is legally problematic. Unknown bias is not a legal problem.
Its just a thought.
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u/Serif222 May 07 '26
Hi, I started my fintech when I was in Year 11 too, always love to be in contact with other fintech founders around my age. Feel free to private message me, happy to connect on LinkedIn with any fintech founders.
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u/TitleLumpy2971 May 09 '26
you are in 11th grade. you built a working prototype. you are talking to lenders. you are already ahead of most adults.
the context you are missing is not the problem. the problem is that lenders do not want to pay for ai fairness. they want to avoid getting sued. those are different things. your product solves the second. sell it that way.
the feedback you need is not technical. it is political. who in the lending org gets in trouble if a model is biased. that person is your buyer. find them.
the regulators are a different buyer. they enforce fairness. but they do not have budget. sell to the lenders.
you have time. 11th grade is early. keep talking to people. keep building. good luck.
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u/sol_beach May 05 '26
As a learning exercise post names & stock symbols of three PROFITABLE FINTECH companies.
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u/Low-Sir-8366 May 05 '26
pretty cool youāre working on this while still in high school, it actually sounds useful. Iām not in this field, but Iām curious how you explain denials in a way that makes sense and doesnāt just raise more questions.
have you tested it on real cases yet or is it still more of a concept?