PrivateCap announced its launch to unlock new sources of capital for the equipment finance industry by connecting institutional investors to originators in the small and mid-market leases and business lease and loan market. PrivateCap’s founders, Bill Phelan and Barry Ripes, bring extensive expertise in the equipment finance market and a successful track record in building businesses in the private and public sectors.  

“Capital markets are shifting across the world, making this the opportune time to launch PrivateCap,” said Ripes, President of PrivateCap. “Our decades of experience conducting credit analysis on mid-market and small ticket leases and loans uniquely qualifies us to connect originators to institutional investors.”

Today’s capital landscape is shifting from public to private sources. Banks are increasingly challenged by rising capital costs or the need to limit concentrations. Independent finance companies have had to rely on a few sources for capital, such as warehouse facilities or the Asset-Backed Securities markets, which are costly to access.

“Private sources of capital should be part of every originator's funding strategy,” according to Phelan, Chairman and CEO of PrivateCap. “We intend to tell the remarkable story of the equipment finance market to institutional investors to create a new asset class of investments. PrivateCap uses a low-cost process to assess leases and loans in the smaller transaction sizes.”

Phelan and Ripes each bring twenty-year track records to PrivateCap. Phelan co-founded and ran PayNet, which maintained the largest proprietary database of small business loans, leases, and lines of credit until its sale to Equifax in 2019. After the acquisition, Phelan ran Equifax’s Commercial Business, the company’s fastest-growing business, until earlier this year. Ripes was the Financial Services Leader at PayNet and Equifax, working closely with lenders, originators, and independent financial institutions. Both are long-standing members and former board members of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.