Interview background
It was a pleasure chatting with Clear Haven Capital Management Managing Partner Mark Simmer on how his investment firm is partnering with companies to eliminate the uncertainty and inefficiency of the traditional debt capital raise.
👉 Watch the interview on YouTube
If you're a company looking for capital to launch and scale financial products, learn more about the Clear Haven team at https://www.clearhavencm.com/.
What you'll learn
In the interview, you'll learn:
- (0:32) How Mark got his start in structured finance, and why he founded Clear Haven
- (1:30) The biggest gap in the market Mark identified when he entered the world of private credit
- (2:24) Clear Haven's investment philosophy and how it is rethinking the debt capital raise process
- (4:17) How the market has validated Clear Haven's investment approach
- (5:08) How Clear Haven decides which companies to invest in
- (5:55) How the Finley-Clear Haven partnership is helping debt capital borrowers streamline their capital markets operations
- (7:05) What traits the highest performing fintech startups in Clear Haven's portfolio have in common
- (7:43) How Mark thinks private credit will evolve in the coming years
- (8:38) The key lesson Mark would share with early-stage founders or investors as they navigate their careers
About Clear Haven
Clear Haven Capital Management is an SEC-registered investment adviser managing capital in closed-end investment funds and separately managed accounts. The firm invests across the credit and asset-backed universe with a particular focus on direct lending, asset purchases, and financing solutions to small and medium-sized finance companies in the U.S. and abroad. The team's experience in specialty finance lending and structuring enables it to provide flexible capital solutions across a range of asset classes, structures, and time horizons. Clear Haven's partners include origination and lending companies operating in consumer, insurance, small business, retail, automotive, medical services, commodities, and real estate markets.
About Finley
Jeremy Tsui is the Co-Founder and CEO of Finley. He was previously in the Merchant Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, where he made investments in software, real estate, and other companies. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Jeremy was at Oliver Wyman, where he specialized in financial analysis, scenario modeling, and stress testing for major banks. Jeremy also loves side hustles: he has launched a secondhand bike shop, a chain of escape rooms, and an Instagram museum. He graduated from the University of Texas.
Finley is debt capital management software that helps lenders and borrowers save time and money by automating routine credit facility management tasks. Today, Finley manages over $2 billion in debt capital for high-growth companies like Ramp, Parafin, and Arc. If you're interested in learning more about software that can help you streamline your debt capital raise and management, just schedule a demo or take a self-guided product tour of Finley. We'd love to chat!