Tidalwave announces new hires to lead mortgage technology sales

Tidalwave, a mortgage technology startup that’s integrated with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced Monday that it has hired a pair of industry veterans to bolster its sales team.

John Stephenson has joined Tidalwave as its head of national sales, while Frank Pastirchak is the company’s new account executive. Stephenson is a former relationship manager and sales executive at ICE Mortgage Technology, and Pastirchak previously worked with nCino and Reggora.

The hirings come a few months after Tidalwave added another former ICE executive, Chris McLendon, as chief revenue officer.

“Attracting mortgage industry veterans like John, Frank, and Chris demonstrates the strength of our vision and the progress we are making,” Diane Yu, CEO of Tidalwave, said in a statement. “Their decision to join Tidalwave reflects our commitment to building a modern, AI-first mortgage platform that addresses the real needs of lenders and borrowers.”

The firm has also been busy on the strategic partnership front. Earlier this month, Tidalwave announced a point-of-sale integration with Truv, a move that aims to create a more efficient borrower verification process by reducing preapproval times and improving conversion rates.

In May, Tidalwave announced point-of-sale integrations with First Colony Mortgage and Mortgage Solutions. Tidalwave said at the time that its platform automates up to 70% of manual tasks, including document validation and compliance checks.

The company’s artificial intelligence-powered platform is directly integrated with the mortgage industry’s primary systems for automated underwriting — Fannie Mae‘s Desktop Underwriter and Freddie Mac‘s Loan Product Advisor.

“By automating operations, improving compliance, and delivering a faster mortgage experience, Tidalwave empowers lenders to scale effectively while significantly enhancing their operational efficiency and profitability,” Stephenson said in a statement.

“After many years at established mortgage technology firms, I am excited to join a company that is genuinely innovating. Tidalwave is setting a new standard for what’s possible in mortgage technology.”

“Once I saw Tidalwave’s AI in action, I knew this was the real deal,” Pastirchak said. “Tidalwave’s SOLO transforms tasks that previously took days — like letters of explanation (documents borrowers provide to clarify credit or income issues) or document collection — into processes completed in minutes, shrinking overall loan processing times from weeks to day.”