Builders and accelerators for the mortgage industry. Deep domain expertise paired with technical execution.
Deep operating experience across commercial mortgage, housing finance, and federal programs.
Unvarnished perspectives and role-based training from operators who have done the work.
We are mortgage industry operators freeing the American people from joyless tech.
Where genAI innovation, cross-sector mortgage expertise, and proven tech delivery meet. We are defined entirely by the operators who choose to build here.
Tanya, Tela, and Tom met at PwC in 2001, transitioned to IBM, and soon found themselves craving a better cultural fit. Tela and Tanya spent nearly four years serving veterans at the VA Loan Guaranty Service, collaborating closely with Tom to lead LGY's largest-ever regulatory and tech transformation. Next, at Black Knight Financial Services (now ICE), they successfully managed and rapidly scaled the LoanSphere platform for industry leaders like Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America. Eventually, driven by their entrepreneurial spirit and desire for a strong cultural alignment, they founded PhoenixTeam eleven years ago.
From three colleagues to a nationwide team of 225+ practitioners.
Tanya, Tela, and Tom meet at PwC and begin supporting the VA Loan Guaranty Service, the start of a two-decade partnership that carries through IBM and beyond.
The VA work that began in 2001 culminates in February 2008, when Tela, Tanya, and Tom take VALERI live: the centerpiece of LGY's largest-ever regulatory and tech transformation on behalf of veterans.
At Black Knight Financial Services (now ICE), the trio manages and rapidly scales the LoanSphere platform for Chase, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
Driven by entrepreneurial spirit and the desire for a strong cultural fit, the founders launch PhoenixTeam: mortgage technology operators, not just advisors.
PhoenixTeam wins its first VA Loan Guaranty contract, its first federal housing agency as a company and a return to the veterans the founders served at the start of their careers.
The first major USDA Rural Development win adds a second federal housing agency, and the VA relationship deepens with a second contract the following year.
A $55M HUD FHA award and a second major USDA win of $48.5M bring PhoenixTeam's work to three federal housing agencies.
PhoenixTeam and veteran-owned Blue Bay Solutions form the Blue Phoenix Mentor-Protege joint venture, pairing deep housing expertise with an SDVOSB partner for federal mission work.
PhoenixTeam pivots hard into generative AI. The Phoenix Burst product family launches, and the firm makes the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies for the fourth consecutive year.
Blue Phoenix expands its reach with a GSA IT-70 award, and PhoenixTeam is approved as a DOD SkillBridge partner for transitioning service members.
Inc. ranks PhoenixTeam among its Best Workplaces and names the CEO and COO to its Female Founders list, while Tela Mathias earns HousingWire's Vanguard Award.
Blue Phoenix wins the $215M VA Loan Guaranty DevSecOps contract, PhoenixTeam a $49M USDA underwriting modernization, and Phoenix Burst earns its first MortgagePoint Tech Excellence Award.
PhoenixTeam becomes the MBA's first GenAI education partner, and Phoenix Burst achieves SOC 2 Type II compliance.
PhoenixTeam launches Human Futures, its youth learning and career-readiness initiative. The first cohort begins hands-on AI and career-readiness work in June, building real skills, real projects, and real confidence.
Hear the story behind PhoenixTeam: where we came from, what we believe, and where we're going, from the founders and leaders themselves.
A conversation with two of the leaders shaping how PhoenixTeam works and grows.
Our DNA represents eight building blocks that are unique to us as human beings and as a company. It is how we treat each other and it is what our clients can expect from us.
We treat our work as a creation. We have and respect a creative process. We invest our gray matter in the works we create for our customers. We collaborate with each other, with our customers, and with our customers' partners.
We keep promises. We meet schedules. We own our results.
We rely on each other to find our errors and to share information, experience, expertise, and institutional knowledge we have as individuals. We expect those we work with to keep us out of harm's way. We are a team.
We think about the customers' desired outcomes and align our work to what they need. We avoid overpowering the customer. We listen. We incorporate our customers' culture, colors, and style into our work.
We expect meetings to be short, on point, and with an agenda. We expect appointments and meetings to start on time and end on time.
We sweat the small stuff. Our work is a science and an art. We deliver a polished result, every time, no matter the size of the task. Quality matters. Quality is a decision.
We expect those we work with to fix our errors and to add value to the results of any individual effort. We expect to cover for those who are sick, stretched, weak, fragile, on vacation, in training, or in trouble.
We seek to add value to all we do. We measure each other by what we contribute. We provide immediate, specific feedback on effectiveness. Everybody works.
Two characters stand for how PhoenixTeam works with AI. One moves at the speed of the models. The other makes sure the outcome holds up, and can show its work.
Born in November 2022 when ChatGPT arrived, Pivot brings four years of experience finding and implementing AI solutions: the model that fits, the tool that connects it, and the workflow that runs on its own until a person needs to step in.
He is known for adapting at the speed of AI.
Flare was born from the experience of PhoenixTeam's three founders, who met in 2001 and have built and run mortgage and financial services technology together since. She brings that experience to every AI solution: good judgment, responsibility for the outcome, and a record that shows the work.
She is the reason Pivot's speed stays safe.
The structured family of Phoenix entities designed to serve specific market needs.
Multi-sector tech delivery, advisory, and AI education platform serving commercial and federal markets.
Tell us what you're working on. Our delivery teams are ready to dig in, and there's more than one way to start.
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