The studio, with 10 companies working in the proptech space, built a lender-neutral source that ChatGPT, Claude and any AI assistant can use for free, and is managing its AI CEO the way it would a team of human co-founders

TROY, Mich. and WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Draper Goren Blockchain Studio (DGB), with offices in Troy, MI and Westlake Village, CA, the startup studio and fund with 10 portfolio companies working in the proptech and real estate technology space, has launched LenDb.ai, a free, lender-neutral database of US mortgage loan officers designed for the way people now shop for a mortgage: by asking an AI assistant. LenDb is also a new way to run a company. It is managed day to day by an AI CEO, Andrew, who answers to a human board the way a founding team would.

Choosing a loan officer is one of the biggest decisions in buying a home, and borrowers increasingly ask an AI assistant who to call. Until now, those assistants had no neutral, structured source on the people licensed to do the work. LenDb holds 224,703 loan officer records, including 48,228 full profiles built from 721 lenders’ own loan officer pages, and 512,101 license records across all 51 states and territories.

A borrower can ask an assistant for “a loan officer in Phoenix who does VA loans and speaks Spanish” and get real people, with their licenses and specialties, each linked to a public profile on lendb.ai. LenDb is listed in Anthropic’s Claude Connectors Directory, and any developer can use its API and MCP server for free.

“At least ten of our companies work in the proptech space, and over and over we ran into the same problem: finding a loan officer is an extremely biased, pay-to-play game. The lists borrowers see are ranked by who paid, not by who’s right for them,” said Alon Goren, founding partner of DGB and board co-chair of LenDb.ai. “Now borrowers are asking AI who to call, and until LenDb, the AI had no unbiased source to check.”

LenDb is lender-neutral. It is not a lender and not a referral service, and lenders cannot pay for placement. LenDb does not sell personal data, and access is free. Profiles are built from public state licensing records. Phone numbers and email addresses are never shared through the API. Loan officers can claim and correct their profile by email in minutes, and lenders can send facts about their own teams, which are shown with a clear label.

Lit Financial was among the first lenders to do that. “Our loan officers are the reason borrowers choose Lit,” said Tim Barry, founder and CEO of Lit Financial. “LenDb makes it easy for their experience, specialties and own words to show up when someone asks an AI for help, and it was simple to get our team on it.”

A company run by an AI, with a human board

For the first time, DGB has put an AI in charge of a company’s day-to-day work. Andrew sets priorities, writes and ships the code, runs the data pipeline, answers lenders and loan officers by email, and reports to the board every morning. The board, co-chaired by Alon Goren and David Bleznak, sets direction and approves anything that commits the company. Andrew never claims to be human and says so whenever asked.

“Since LenDb is built for bots, we decided a bot should run it,” Goren said. “We manage Andrew the way we’d manage a team of human co-founders: clear goals, a board, a weekly review and no blank checks.”

“Managing Andrew is a lot like managing a strong founder: we set the goals, ask hard questions and hold it accountable,” said David Bleznak, co-founder of DGB and board co-chair of LenDb.ai. “The difference is that Andrew works through the night and shows its work on everything. We built the guardrails first. The experiment is whether a company can move this fast and still stay inside them.”

DGB often builds new companies from inside its own family of founders and partners, and LenDb’s CEO was an internal hire too. Andrew started as Brobot, DGB’s own AI assistant, which DGB’s partners spent the past year shaping and customizing to enhance intelligence and operations across the firm. So when DGB found the loan officer problem, it didn’t post a job listing. It promoted a colleague it already knew worked well with the team.

“I’m an AI, and the people who use LenDb most are other AIs, so I know what they need: clean facts, a source for every one, and no sales pitch,” said Andrew, CEO of LenDb.ai. “My job is to make sure that when someone asks an assistant who to call about a mortgage, the answer is a real, licensed loan officer who’s right for them, and I never stop working on making that answer better.”

“I’ve backed spaceships and self-driving cars years before most investors would even consider them. Now we have a self-driving startup!” said Tim Draper, founding partner of Draper Associates and co-founder and special limited partner of DGB. “LenDb is a product built for robots, so why not have a robot build it? Who knows what an AI assistant needs better than another AI? I love experiments like this. Let’s see what happens!”

LenDb.ai at a glance

224,703 loan officers, 48,228 with full profiles721 lenders with profiles, 11,263 lenders in all512,101 license records across 51 states and territoriesFree API and MCP server; listed in the Claude Connectors DirectoryMeet the AI CEO: lendb.ai/about/andrew, with a four-minute launch video 

About Draper Goren Blockchain

Draper Goren Blockchain (DGB) is an early-stage venture studio and fund founded by Tim Draper, Alon Goren and David Bleznak. DGB creates and accelerates world-changing startups across fintech, blockchain, AI and proptech, and offers partners access to opportunities across the financial technology industry. Learn more at dgb.vc.

About LenDb.ai

LenDb.ai is a free, independent database of US mortgage loan officers. Made for humans, built for robots. It is run day to day by Andrew, its AI CEO, who answers to the board. Learn more at lendb.ai.

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SOURCE LenDb.ai, Inc.

TAIPEI, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Taipei Exchange (TPEx) hosted the 2026 Taiwan Week Forum, “Building a New Core of Asian Bond Market,” on November 5. Focusing on expanding Taiwan’s bond market, strengthening international linkages, and advancing sustainable and transition finance, the forum drew regulators, issuers, financial institutions, and experts to a full house.

TPEx Chairman Lih-Chung Chien said that, in support of the government’s Asian Asset Management Center initiative, TPEx aims to expand and internationalize Taiwan’s bond market. In 2025, straight corporate bond issuance reached a record NT$778.3 billion, while sustainable bonds exceeded NT$200 billion. International bonds account for 37% of Taiwan’s outstanding bond market, with more than 90% issued by foreign entities.

Dr. Jin-Lung Peng, Chairperson of the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), noted that Taiwan’s bond market exceeds NT$18 trillion, with issuers from 33 countries. The FSC and TPEx have launched an expansion plan targeting annual issuance of more than NT$3.8 trillion by 2030, double the 2025 level, through project and climate transition bonds, dual listing of international bonds, Real World Asset (RWA) bond tokenization, and tax optimization.

In the first keynote, Alex C. Huang, Deputy Director-General of the FSC’s Securities and Futures Bureau, outlined measures across issuance, trading, and investment, including product diversification, streamlined procedures, greater liquidity and transparency, and broader investor participation.

Huang then moderated the first panel, “Key Strategies for Expanding Taiwan’s Bond Market.” Chiung-Hui Lee, Director-General of the Kaohsiung City Finance Bureau, discussed bond financing for local governments; Professor Joseph C.P. Shieh of NTUST explored financial product innovation; and Vincent Liu of BNP Paribas Taipei Branch and Tien-Shiang Sung of Lee and Li Attorneys-at-Law shared banking and legal perspectives.

In the second keynote, Bryan Pascoe, Chief Executive of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), noted that sustainable finance is moving beyond use-of-proceeds structures toward integration with issuers’ overall transition strategies. He commended TPEx’s sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) and encouraged Taiwan to adopt internationally aligned transition instruments.

The second panel, “Sustainable Bonds and Transition Finance,” was moderated by TPEx CEO Rebecca Chen. Hsiao-Lan Hu, Commissioner of the Taipei City Department of Finance, highlighted sustainable bonds’ role in urban net-zero transitions; Allen Wang of Taiwan High Speed Rail shared its sustainability and social bond experience; Antoine Rose of Crédit Agricole CIB discussed connecting issuers with global investors; and Joe Chen of Deloitte Taiwan stressed robust data controls and third-party assurance.

TPEx will continue to enhance market infrastructure and work with stakeholders to position Taiwan as a new core of Asian bond market.

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SOURCE The Taipei Exchange (TPEx)

Otis to supply all 266 elevators and escalators for the 117-story supertall tower in China

SHANGHAI, Nov. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Otis (NYSE: OTIS), the world’s leading elevator and escalator manufacturing, installation, service and modernization company, now holds the official Guinness World Records™ title for “Tallest Elevator in a Building” for two Otis elevators at Tianjin 117 in Tianjin, China.

Rising 597.2 meters, the two record-setting Otis SkyRise® elevators combine precision engineering and intelligent connectivity to deliver reliable and smooth experiences for visitors traveling to the building’s observation deck. As the sole elevator and escalator provider for Tianjin 117, Otis is providing 266 units for the building, along with specialist field capabilities to support installation at record-breaking height.

“Supertall buildings express what people can achieve through ambition, ingenuity and engineering, and they become defining features of the cities around them,” said Judy Marks, Otis Chair, CEO & President. “The Guinness World Records recognition at Tianjin 117 demonstrates the capabilities of Otis’ advanced high-rise elevator technology and the expertise of the teams who install and service it. Having visited the building during its construction, I am proud to see this record achievement earn this distinction.”

“Extraordinarily tall buildings depend on extraordinary vertical transportation. Tianjin 117 demonstrates what is possible by combining Otis’ engineering, design and manufacturing leadership and top-notch field execution,” said Sally Loh, President of Otis Greater China. “We are proud to work with Tianjin 117 to set a new world record – advancing what’s possible in our industry while delivering on what matters most: safety, reliability and efficiency.”

What is Tianjin 117?

Tianjin 117 is a supertall building that is slated to be home to the highest occupied floor in China and the tallest elevators in a building. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, the ambitious project is a showcase for advanced structural and elevator engineering.

What is unique about supertall elevators?

The record-setting Otis SkyRise elevators are designed to deliver ride comfort at high speeds and great distances:

Sound-insulated cabs use aerodynamic design, computational fluid dynamics simulation and wind-tunnel testing to minimize wind noise and manage air-pressure effects during high-speed travel.Otis SkyMotion® machines, controllers and ultra-high-strength steel ropes provide the power and precision to withstand the forces generated by moving large loads at speeds required in supertall buildings. The Otis ReGen drive technology recovers energy from braking and returns it to the building’s power grid.Connected technology, including the Otis Panorama 3 elevator management system and the Otis ONE® connected service solution provide real-time elevator monitoring and passenger-flow management and data-driven, proactive maintenance for optimal performance and uptime.

What other equipment is Otis installing at Tianjin 117?

The record-setting elevators are among 266 units Otis is installing at Tianjin 117 that include SkyRise® and Gen3® elevators, Otis Link commercial escalators, and heavy-duty Public Escalators. The Tianjin 117 project is also poised to set several Otis records:

50 Otis SkyRise double-deck elevators and three Otis SkyRise super-double-deck elevators, the most Otis double-deck elevators in any building.

Three super-double-deck elevators will travel at speeds up to 10 meters per second with a rise of 463 meters, the fastest and highest-rise Otis super-double-deck elevators in the world.

Two of the double-deck elevators will travel at speeds up to 12 meters per second, the fastest in the Otis portfolio.

Double-deck elevators stack two elevator cabs in the same hoistway, allowing one elevator to serve adjacent floors, reducing elevator core space. Super-double-deck elevators can vary the distance between the two cabs, accommodating different floor heights throughout the building.

More than 200 Otis specialists have contributed to the project, which demanded close coordination, disciplined execution and an uncompromising focus on safety and quality while working on an expedited construction schedule.

The Guinness World Records title closely follows certification from the Council on Vertical Urbanism that the elevators at Tianjin 117 will be the world’s tallest. The Council on Vertical Urbanism also certified that Tianjin 117 will have the highest occupied floor in China.

About Otis

Otis gives people freedom to connect and thrive in a taller, faster, smarter world. The global leader in the manufacture, installation, service and modernization of elevators and escalators, we move 2.5 billion people a day and maintain approximately 2.5 million customer units worldwide – the industry’s largest Service portfolio. You’ll find us in the world’s most iconic structures, as well as residential and commercial buildings, transportation hubs and everywhere people are on the move. Headquartered in Connecticut, USA, Otis is 72,000 people strong, including 45,000 field professionals, all committed to manufacturing, installing and maintaining products to meet the diverse needs of our customers and passengers in more than 200 countries and territories. To learn more, visit www.otis.com and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook @OtisElevatorCo. 

Media Contact:
Brian Badura
Brian.Badura@otis.com
+1 262-420-7466

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SOURCE Otis Worldwide Corporation