WOODSIDE, Calif., April 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Runway Growth
Capital LLC ("Runway" or the "Company"), a leading lender of growth
capital to both venture and non-venture backed companies seeking an
alternative to raising equity, announced today that it has hired
Rob Lake to head the company's new
Life Sciences practice.
Lake comes to Runway from Bridge Bank, a division of Western
Alliance Bank (NYSE:WAL), where he was the founder and group head
of its life sciences practice. During his nearly five years with
Bridge Bank, Lake was responsible for all aspects of the group
including business development, maintaining asset quality, and
managing the division's P&L.
Healthcare companies offer substantial enterprise value; they
represent a significant portion of the overall technology and
innovation landscape in the U.S. The Life Sciences practice creates
another avenue for Runway to further diversify its investment
portfolio, and provide healthcare borrowers with access to a
seasoned lender who has a positive track record and deep domain
knowledge in biopharma, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical
devices.
"Rob brings years of experience and deep sector knowledge,
having recently founded and managed a successful life sciences team
and national business line for a publicly-traded commercial bank,"
said David Spreng, CEO of Runway. "Rob is an exceptional
culture fit for our Company, given his commitment to his teams and
helping borrowers in the life science space achieve their business
goals. What sets Rob apart is his results-oriented approach and
more than 20 years of success underwriting and closing new
business, while managing and maintaining the credit quality of
large, complex loan portfolios of early-to-late stage life sciences
companies."
Over Lake's lending career, he has funded more than $1.4 billion in loans, while maintaining a low
loan loss ratio. At Runway, Lake will continue his efforts to
thoughtfully structure loans that support Life Science's growth and
meet the needs of both entrepreneurs and institutional equity
holders. Lake will also join the teams that support current
borrowers in the life sciences space such as CareCloud and
MingleHealth.
"David Spreng and the Runway team
have a peerless reputation as lenders and investors, and I couldn't
be more thrilled to join such a well-regarded team of proven
leaders in venture debt," said Lake. "I've spent the last few years
helping a technology-focused venture bank launch, build, and grow
their expertise in the life sciences vertical, and I'm excited to
bring this deep institutional and sector knowledge to Runway's new
life sciences practice."
While at Bridge Bank, Lake was responsible for hiring a team of
seasoned lenders and significantly growing assets (loans and
deposits) from the ground up – closing approximately 50 debt
transactions while managing a very active loan portfolio of life
sciences companies. Under his leadership, the life sciences
division quickly achieved profitability and soon became one of the
highest yielding divisions, and had one of the best operating
efficiency ratios, within the entire bank.
Previously, Lake was an executive director at Oxford Finance,
LLC, a privately held specialty financial services company that
provides capital exclusively to life sciences and healthcare
services companies worldwide. He also spent time at Silicon Valley
Bank, a publicly traded (NASDAQ:SIVB) financial services company
focusing on emerging growth and mature companies in the technology,
life science, private equity and premium wine markets. Prior to
that, Lake worked for The FINOVA Group, Inc. (Berkshire Hathaway,
Inc. / Luecadia National Corporation), a non-bank diversified
financial services company and at the American Medical
Association.
Lake has a bachelor of arts in business administration from
Aurora University and was a four-year
collegiate athlete (football). He currently serves as the treasurer
and board member for Fresh Start Surgical Gifts, a local charity
that provides reconstructive surgery for disadvantaged infants,
children, and teens with physical deformities caused by birth,
accidents, abuse or disease.
About Runway Growth Capital LLC and Runway Growth Credit
Fund, Inc.
Runway Growth Capital LLC is the investment
advisor to Runway Growth Credit Fund Inc., a lender of growth
capital to companies seeking an alternative to raising equity. Led
by industry veteran David Spreng, the Fund provides senior
term loans of $10 million to $50 million to
fast-growing companies based in the United
States and Canada. The Fund is a closed-end investment
fund that has elected to be regulated as a business development
company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. For more on the
Fund and its manager, Runway Growth Capital LLC, please visit
our website at www.runwaygrowth.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements
included herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included
in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and
are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and
involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a
result of a number of factors, including those described from time
to time in Runway Growth's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Runway Growth undertakes no duty to update any
forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release.
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SOURCE Runway Growth Capital LLC