Syncora is listed as an INVESTOR + Board member on this small FIN TECH Company // I don't know what to make of this one, but at least they are doing stuff.... looks like small potatoes anyhow:
"LiftForward, Inc., $250 Million – LiftForward operates a marketplace loan platform which provides loans to small businesses and high-yield debt products to investors. Based in New York, LiftForward’s goal is to “bring back the ability for small businesses to get loans to fuel their growth” after the 2008 economic recession. LiftForward raised its $250 million in capital through debt financing. "
"Small business financing
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LiftForward operates marketplace platforms which enable retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and other organizations to connect their small business customers with financial products. "
PRESIDENT & CEO Jeffrey Rogers has over 20 years of experience in building companies. His disciplines include technology, e-commerce, finance and operations. Currently, Mr. Rogers is CEO and President of LiftForward, Inc.,which operates a marketplace platform which enable retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and other organizations to offer their small business customers with invoice and inventory financing. LiftForward investors include Syncora Alternative Investments, IA Capital Group, Varadero Capital, L.P., GLI Finance Limited (AIM: GLIF), an investor in platform companies providing finance to small and medium sized enterprises, and Garrison Point Capital. Prior to his current role, Mr. Rogers grew and ran several companies and spent time on Wall Street as an investment banker. Mr. Rogers received his BA from Washington and Lee University, his JD from Washington and Lee University School of Law, and finally, his MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. chris.jpg Chris Reilly
CHIEF RISK OFFICER Chris Reilly has over 30 years of broad business experience in a variety of executive management operational and financial roles. From 2006 until 2011 Chris served as President of CIT Group Inc.'s (NYSE: CIT) Small Business Lending Division where she was responsible for overseeing a $4.0+ billion organization that was recognized as one of the nation's leading Small Business Administration lenders. Chris also held several other key senior management roles while at CIT including Executive VP of Corporate Development & Strategy, Chief Audit Executive, COO of Inventory Finance, and CFO of CIT's Consumer Finance Business Segment. Prior to CIT, Chris spent 13 years at Arthur Andersen LLP. Chris has an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. She is also a CPA. mike.jpg Michael Grassotti
CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Michael Grassotti has over 20 years of experience as a technology focused entrepreneur with experience recruiting and leading tech teams and taking products from idea to market. Most recent experience prior to LiftForward includes Red Rover, a peer-to-peer learning platform for corporations and colleges and WeShop.com. drew.jpg Andrew Nichols
VICE PRESIDENT OF ENGINEERING Andrew Nichols is the Vice President of Engineering for LiftForward. At LiftForward, Andrew is responsible for leading the engineering and technology teams. He joined the company in 2014 and is based in the company’s New York headquarters. Prior to LiftForward, Andrew managed the web application development team for TheLadders, an online job-matching service for career-driven professionals. Before TheLadders, Andrew served as Director of Design and Development at Tallan, Inc., where he worked with a number of fortune 500 clients to develop enterprise software applications. Andrew holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Connecticut.
Darren Davies
VICE PRESIDENT, PARTNERSHIPS AND CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT Darren Davies is the Vice President of Partnerships and Channel Development at LiftForward where he is responsible for expanding LiftForward’s origination channels through institutional partnerships. Darren has over 20 years of experience in developing revenue growth strategies for capital markets and analytics-based businesses with a focus on credit origination, securitization and investor relations. Prior to LiftForward, Darren held sales leadership positions with Experian and FitchRatings and as a Managing Director at DBRS and Standard Poor’s Risk Solutions, scaled revenue as a sales and product team leader for several early stage businesses. Darren holds a BA in Economics from New York University. barbara.jpg Barbara Steinberg
CONTROLLER Barbara Steinberg has over 15 years of experience in financial accounting, management reporting, and corporate income tax. Prior to joining LiftForward, Barbara was Vice President, Financial Reporting, in the Specialty Finance division of CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT). She was also a Manager in the CIT Corporate Income Tax department. Before joining CIT, Barbara worked for Ernst & Young (Toronto, Canada) for five years in the audit and tax departments. Barbara has her Master in Accounting and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Waterloo, Canada. She has her CPA designation from the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
Blendi Batusha
DIRECTOR OF CREDIT & UNDERWRITING Blendi Batusha has over 8 experience in assessing risk across a broad range of commercial loan types and Industries with specialization in numerous financial products and asset classes including Loan and Lease Structures, Franchisor and Franchise System Risk Evaluation, Commercial and Industrial, Asset Based Lending , Commercial Real Estate, secured and unsecured consumer lines of credit, Construction and FF&E financing. Prior to joining LiftFroward, Blendi served as a Lead Commercial Underwriter at Direct Capital Corporation a CIT Company.
Franco Barbeite
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER Franco Barbeite joined LiftForward in 2015 at the company’s New York headquarters. Prior to LiftForward, Franco served as lead front end engineer at TheLadders, an online job-matching service for career-driven professionals. Before TheLadders, Franco served as a consultant developing enterprise software applications with a focus on User Experience and Design. Franco got his start in tech as employee #1 at Webby Award winning Rethink Autism. Franco holds a BFA in film from New York University.
Kate Stapleton
LOAN ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Kate Stapleton has over 12 years of experience in Loan Administration and Business Development, specifically for Commercial and Industrial Loans and Commercial Real Estate in the metropolitan area. Previous to joining LiftForward, Kate has worked at Two Trees Management in Dumbo and was Assistant Vice President at Country Bank, where her experience in servicing and lending rewarded her with the Top 40 Under 40 Young Ambassador to Business Award.
Anthony Galan
COMMERCIAL CREDIT UNDERWRITER Anthony Galan handles manual small business loan risk assessment across numerous industries for LiftForward as well as managing the Microsoft TAAS program. Prior to LiftFoward, Anthony served as a financial consultant at Laidlaw & Company. He is a graduate of Brown University where he received a B.A. in Business, Entrepreneurship, and Organizations with a specialty in Business Economics and Finance. Anthony was a 4 year starter on the Brown University men’s baseball team.
Jason Leibel
COMMERCIAL CREDIT UNDERWRITER Jason Leibel has five years experience in Commercial Banking. Prior to joining LiftForward, Jason worked as a Senior Credit Analyst within the Credit Department at Israel Discount Bank of New York. Before Israel Discount Bank of New York, Jason served as a Credit Analyst for The Westchester Bank. Jason graduated from Siena College where he received a B.S. in Finance.
Manuela Bartonek
LOAN CLOSER Manuela has over 9 years of experience in Banking, specifically for Real Estate and Commercial Loans. Previous to joining LiftForward, Manuela has worked as a Loan Administrator at Bank für Sozialwirtschaft in Munich and simultaneously as a Lecturer for the Real Estate Business at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Manuela graduated from Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg (University of Applied Science) where she received a B.Sc. in Finance and Management. Board of Investors/Advisors
David Chait
MANAGING DIRECTOR, SYNCORA ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS, LLC David Chait is a Managing Director at Syncora Alternative Investments LLC (“SAI”), a subsidiary of Syncora Guarantee Inc. (“SGI”). He also serves on the SAI’s Private Equity Investment Committee.
Mr. Chait has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services sector with expertise in securitization, structured credit products and alternative investments and is responsible for investment underwriting, deal sourcing and risk management at SAI. Mr. Chait joined Syncora in 2002 as a senior member of SGI’s Surveillance group with a focus on developing a risk management framework for the company’s portfolio of insured collateralized debt obligations. Later, as head of the SGI’s Structured Finance Surveillance group, Mr. Chait assumed responsibility for the company’s portfolio of insured residential and commercial mortgage backed securities transactions in addition to other non-mortgage related asset backed securities.
Prior to joining Syncora, Mr. Chait worked for five years at Swiss Re New Markets as a senior transactor in the Credit Solutions group where he focused on developing capital markets driven insurance solutions for the company’s financial institutions clients. Mr. Chait began his career at KPMG LLP, during which time he received his Certified Public Accountant designation licensed by the State of Maryland and worked in the company’s tax practice with a focus on regulated investment companies. Mr. Chait graduated cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Economics and also earned an MBA from the Wharton School with a concentration in Finance.
Andrew Whelan
INTERIM CEO AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GLI FINANCE, LTD Andrew Whelan has over 25 years investment experience and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. Prior to founding Sancus in 2013, Andrew was a founding partner of Ermitage Group following its MBO in 2006 from Liberty Life, backed by Caledonia Investments. He left Ermitage following its successful sale to Nexar Capital Group in July 2011 and after a period of gardening leave joined International Asset Monitor as Managing Director to create a new Jersey Branch.
Andrew joined Liberty Ermitage in 2001 and was a Group Executive Director and Managing Director of Ermitage Global Wealth Management Jersey Limited. He was also CIO of Ermitage’s Wealth Management business and products and during his 10 year tenure won multiple investment awards. Prior to Liberty Ermitage Andrew worked for Kleinwort Benson part of the Dresdner Private Banking Group and started his career with Morgan Grenfell in 1987.
He has been recognised in the Citywealth Leaders List in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011 and is also a member of the Retained Global Speaker programme for the CFA Society.
saul.jpg Saul Rosenthal
PRESIDENT & COO OF TICC CAPITAL: TICKER: TICC Saul Rosenthal is the President of a multi-billion dollar investment management firm, which includes TICC Capital Corp. (NasdaqGS: TICC) and Oxford Lane Capital Corp (NasdaqGS: OXLC). Mr. Rosenthal has more than 20 years’ experience working with middle market companies, and was previously an attorney at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP. He serves on the boards of Algorithmic Implementations, Inc. (d/b/a Ai Squared), Oxford Lane Capital Corp. (NasdaqGS: OXLC) and the National Museum of Mathematics. Mr. Rosenthal received a Bachelor of Science degree magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and a LL.M. (Taxation) from New York University School of Law.
robert.jpg Robert Levitan
FORMER CEO OF PANDO NETWORKS & IVILLAGE Robert Levitan is an entrepreneur who has started five companies and has raised more than $150 million in venture capital financing.
A pioneer of New York’s Silicon Alley tech industry, Levitan co-founded iVillage in 1995. iVillage grew to become the largest women’s community on the web. At iVillage, Levitan was responsible for sponsorship and ad sales. Levitan led a team which brought many major consumer brands online for the first time. In 1999, iVillage was one of New York’s first internet companies to have a successful public offering. In 2006, NBC Universal acquired iVillage.
In 1999, Levitan was the co-founder of the online payment system and digital currency platform Flooz.com. In 2003, Levitan co-founded the US operations of Dotomi, a personalized ad-targeting company, which was acquired by ValueClick in 2011. Most recently, Levitan was the CEO and chairman of Pando Networks, a cloud-based media-delivery company. In 2013, Levitan executed the successful sale of Pando Networks to the Xbox division of Microsoft. Investors
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