ZestFinance, a financial technology startup, announced that it has received a strategic investment from Chinese language Internet search provider Baidu.

ZestFinance takes an entirely different approach to underwriting using machine learning and large-scale big data analysis. With a team of some of the world™s best data scientists from Google and lending experts from Capital One, ZestFinance analyzes thousands of potential credit variables ' everything from financial information to technology usage ' to better assess factors like the potential for fraud, the risk of default, and the viability of a long-term customer relationship.