Ranieri Solutions, a financial services technology investment firm, has entered into a partnership with blockchain startup Symbiont to explore opportunities to use the latter’s platform to systemically improve all aspects of the mortgage industry.

Under the partnership, Ranieri will combine its know-how of the mortgage market with Symbiont’s expertise in deploying enterprise blockchain networks.

Established by real estate industry and Wall Street veteran Lewis S. Ranieri, Ranieri Solutions aims to invest in, develop, and apply innovative technology solutions focused primarily on the real estate and mortgage markets.

“The mortgage market, despite significant efforts, continues to lag behind from a technological standpoint creating inefficiencies that impact mortgage loans throughout their life cycle,” Ranieri said. “By partnering with Symbiont, a proven blockchain pioneer, Ranieri Solutions believes that together we can implement this transformative technology to bring necessary efficiencies, transparency, and security to the mortgage markets.”

Symbiont is a New York-based blockchain startup backed by investors including the likes of Medici Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, Hundsun Technologies, and Wicklow Capital, among others. In October 2016, it introduced Assembly, the permissioned distributed ledger component of Symbiont's smart contracts system.

“When Symbiont was founded, it was my dream and vision to develop decentralized technology solutions that could solve the root problems that were at the heart of the financial crisis. Blockchain and smart contract technology is proving to be that solution,” Mark Smith, CEO of Symbiont, said. “To solve these problems alongside Lewis Ranieri, the genius behind modern securitized markets and his team is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me personally and a seminal moment in the history of Symbiont as an organization.”