E40: Asset-Based Lending with Marius Silvasan

Private debt is "all the rage" these days, but also beset with some controversy, especially in Canada. Asset-based lending is a form of private debt, and eCapital is a leader in this space. On this episode of The Unlimited Podcast, Marius Silvasan, CEO of eCapital, goes "back to basics" to explain what is asset-based lending, how eCapital mitigates risks typically associated with traditional private debt, and reveals eCapital's secret weapon: its technology focus. eCapital is a specialty finance company with a focus on providing working capital to small and medium sized businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. eCapital finances 6,000+ clients through factoring and asset-based lending facilities and provides ancillary services such as credit cards, fuel cards, bill pay, and other treasury services. The business was founded in 2006 and employs 700+ people globally. Prior to his leadership role with eCapital, Marius was CEO and Director of ONE Bio Corp and Tele Plus World Corp, accumulating over 20 years of experience in structured finance, syndication and mergers and acquisitions. As a Forbes Finance Council Member, he is an emerging thought leader on financial services and corporate leadership. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from HEC University in Montreal. Timestamps 0:00 Disclaimer & Intro 3:51 Marius' journey to eCapital CEO 6:14 What eCapital does for SMBs 12:12 Examples of industries using eCapital 15:40 Mitigating risk with eCapital's loans 29:48 eCapital's technological applications 33:18 eCapital's growth strategy 38:41 What economical challenges is eCapital seeing? 43:01 How does eCapital differ from other lenders? 45:39 Ensuring liquidity within eCapital 48:11 How should investors evaluate private debt firms? 51:20 If Marius could do anything, what would it be?