Fountainhead Commercial Capital Secures $23 Million for Small Business Lending

Fountainhead Commercial Capital recently announced a significant investment that will enable the forward-thinking SBA 504 lender to expand its footprint and offer commercial loans for owner-occupied commercial real estate throughout the United States.  Alternative asset manager Magnetar Capital, through its affiliated funds, invested $23 million in a Series A round of financing, joining an affiliate of 20 Gates Management, an asset management firm based in New York, as the first two institutional investors in Fountainhead.

“Magnetar represents a great strategic partner as we expand our ability to provide credit for small business owners nationwide and pursue our mission to become the leading SBA 504 lender,” said Chris Hurn, Founder/CEO of Fountainhead.  

“Fountainhead is filling a void in the market and will help provide credit to qualifying small business owners,” said Magnetar Capital Fixed Income Portfolio Manager Michael Henriques.

“Commercial real estate ownership is an important wealth creation strategy, and we fully believe every healthy small business in America should consider it.  Through the 504 loan, we are providing a compelling alternative during what is a challenging time in commercial banking,” said Hurn.  

“Since launching last year, Fountainhead has used tech-enabled solutions to dramatically accelerate the traditional originating, structuring, approval and closing times for financing commercial real estate.  Expertise, speed, and competitive pricing and terms from commercial lenders are what is expected, and we deliver these, while banks and other lenders increasingly do not,” said Hurn.

Fountainhead uses an efficient and effective approach to commercial real estate financing that reduces the time and hassle for small business owners and their trusted referral sources, according to Hurn. “We can process loans in a fraction of the time that it takes ordinary lenders,” said Hurn, “typically approving loans in hours when ordinary lenders would take weeks.”

Funding through the SBA 504 loan program allows more Main Street entrepreneurs and business owners to own their commercial real estate by cutting their down-payment in half, obtaining longer terms and amortizations that lower monthly payments, and getting Wall Street-type financing (i.e. long-term, below-market, fixed interest rates).

“With Fountainhead’s help, owning commercial real estate is significantly less expensive and far easier, than continuing to lease for many small to midsized businesses,” said Josh Borg of 20 Gates.

About Fountainhead Commercial Capital
Fountainhead is an industry-leading, nonbank lender founded in February of 2015 by some of the most experienced and awarded SBA 504 lenders in the U.S.  It cracked the top forty originating SBA 504 lenders nationally in just its first six months of existence.  In addition to retail originations, the company’s unique FastTrack504 program enables banks, credit unions, and others to fully outsource SBA 504 loans to Fountainhead, so they simplify the SBA process for their clients and deal with specialists, while earning non-interest (premium) income.  More information is available at www.Fountainhead504.com  or by calling 800-770-1504.

About Magnetar
Founded in 2005, Magnetar Capital is a leading alternative asset manager with assets under management of $13.5 billion as of January 1, 2016. The firm is headquartered in Evanston, Illinois, with offices in New York and London.

About 20 Gates
Founded in 2009, 20 Gates provides structuring solutions and specialized fixed income strategies to institutional clients.  20 Gates is headquartered in New York, with assets under management of $3.8 billion as of March 1, 2016.