Ellie Mae Named "Most Innovative Company"

Inman Innovator Award Presented at Real Estate Connect

Pleasanton, CA-JULY 29, 2003-Ellie Mae, Inc., the leading provider of Internet connectivity for the mortgage industry, was named "most innovative company" in the real estate and mortgage industries by Inman News, the national real estate news service and content provider, at the 2003 Real Estate Connect Conference July 23 in San Francisco.

Ellie Mae received the award for its ePASS Web-transaction platform, which automates the interactions between third-party mortgage originators-who account for two-thirds of U.S. mortgage volume-and their many business partners. ePASS has revolutionized the communications of brokers, lenders, and settlement service providers by allowing disparate computer systems to exchange data accurately and securely over the Internet.

"To be chosen the most innovative company by one of our industry's leading observers is an enormous honor," said Sig Anderman, CEO of Ellie Mae. "This award validates our vision that the Internet is the perfect medium to effect a more efficient mortgage process-displacing traditional faxing and hand delivery of documents, and eliminating the error-prone process of keying and re-keying massive amounts of data."

Ellie Mae was selected from a roster of nominees that included ABN Amro Mortgage Group, eRealty, FNIS, HomeGain, Home Services of America, IndyMac Bank, Keller Williams Realty, Real Living, and Realty World.

Ellie Mae's ePASS, which has been activated by 27,000 mortgage companies out of an estimated 40,000 companies nationwide, allows users to connect to wholesale lenders, settlement service providers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-easily, instantly, accurately, and securely. During the first half of 2003, ePASS was used on more than 4 million loans, one-third of all loans originated by brokers and other third-party loan origination companies.

"We estimate that ePASS saved users more than a million hours of non-productive work during the first six months of this year," Anderman noted, "not to mention the untold reams of paper and gallons of ink made unnecessary by eliminated print-outs and faxes."

Ellie Mae, Inc., also manufactures and markets desktop loan origination software, point-of-sale websites, lender loan-import software, and closing document software and services.

About Ellie Mae, Inc.

Ellie Mae, Inc., provides loan-origination software and services that automate the loan-origination process from lead to close. The company's ePASS Web-transaction platform is the industry standard, currently processing over 750,000 mortgage transactions monthly. ePASS enables loan originators to eliminate redundant work, close loans faster, and reduce loan-origination costs. Other Ellie Mae products include Executive Web Sites for automated lead generation and marketing, Contour and Genesis 2000 desktop software for advanced loan origination and processing, and Ellie Mae Docs for speedy, error-free electronic closing documentation. To learn more about Ellie Mae, please call 877-355-4362 or visit www.elliemae.com.

About Inman News

Inman News is the nation's premier independent real estate news service and content provider to consumers and the real estate industry. Inman editorial content appears in more than 250 newspapers throughout the country and is featured on more than 10,000 Websites. Inman News reaches millions of consumers and industry professionals each day through clients and partners such as The Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Washington Post, Denver Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Google, The Wall Street Journal Online, CBS Marketwatch and many more.

Copyright © 2003 Ellie Mae, Inc. All rights reserved. Ellie Mae®, ePASS®, Contour™, Genesis 2000™, Executive Web SitesT, Ellie Mae DocsT are the sole property of Ellie Mae, Inc.

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