There’s money to be made in online lending (just ask Chicago startup Avant). But another startup has launched in the Windy City to make it easier to get a loan, but it’s taking a slightly different approach than Avant and other players in the space.

Akouba Credit, which launched a year and a half ago, specializes in loans for small businesses, rather than individual loans. And instead of bypassing traditional banks, Akouba works with the community banks by offing a software package that allows them to issue small business loans for under $1 million, and helps them meet their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements, something community banks often struggle with, said CEO and co-founder Chris Rentner.

Akouba’s software, which debuted this April, uses an algorithmic underwriting platform to reduce the time and cost required for banks to give small business loans. The company was recently selected to the 2015 Techstars Chicago class, where it beat out 900 other applicants for a spot in the coveted accelerator.

“(Techstars) is something we debated a lot because we were moving pretty well already, but we just looked at the opportunity and said how do you pass up an opportunity to go through one of the best accelerators in the country, in your hometown? It just made so much sense,” Rentner sad. “We’re super excited.”

Rentner, a seasoned investor and startup guy (he’s the president of Full Ahead Ventures and he was the COO and investor in WedSocial, which was acquired by WeddingWire in 2013), has already developed a vast network in the Chicago tech community. But the opportunity to utilize the resources available to Techstars members was too much to pass up.

“What we saw out of Techstars was just pouring gasoline on what we already know,” he said.

In late 2013, Rentner and his team began putting the wheels in motion for Akouba as they saw FinTech taking off nationally. Startups were raising tons of capital by lending money directly to individuals, but Rentner saw an opportunity to take a different approach. By partnering with community banks, Akouba provides an automated underwriting platform that helps banks issue loans in under 48 hours. And with their relationship with local banks, Akouba says it’s able to keep interest rates lower than other online lenders (around 7-14%).

“The online lending industry was almost known as a predatory lender or a payday lender because of their high interest rates,” he said.

So far, Akouba has raised around $800,000 in a friends and family round, and it’s looking to close a seed or Series A round this fall after Techstars, Rentner said.

The startup is currently talking with around 25 banks in Chicago, a handful of which have signed LOI’s with Akouba, Rentner said. The goal is to have 8-12 banks on-boarding upon completing the Techstars accelerator, he said.

“Those number might not sound like a lot … but our customer is worth $250,000 to $600,000 a year to us,” he said. “When we onboard 10 banks, we’re a $5 million revenue run rate company at that point.

“I believe we’ll be a seven figure run rate company in the next 6 months, with an 8 figure run rate by the middle of next year.”

Screengrab via Akouba Credit