Toronto-based venture debt provider Espresso Capital has announced Mark Gilbert has joined as director of loan origination at the firm.
A seasoned tech banker, Gilbert joins Espresso from BMO, where he was the regional market leader of the bank’s technology banking practice for the Greater Toronto Area. While there he provided senior origination and deal structuring support, and managed key sponsorship initiatives. According to Espresso, he has financed technology companies across Canada, a number of which have been recognized with industry awards. Gilbert began his career at Chubb Insurance.
Gilbert is the second major departure from BMO in 2019. Last month, BetaKit reported that former investment director with BMO Financial Group Michael Sfalcin had join Vancouver-based VC firm Yaletown Partners.
“[Mark] is a very experienced senior technology banker and brings a wealth of high quality relationships.”
“I’m thrilled to join the team at Espresso,” said Gilbert. “It’s a high-performing group that is driven and focused on its vision of providing agile, founder-friendly capital without dilution. I’m excited to join an organization that I believe is filling an important financing gap in the North American tech marketplace.”
Launched in 2009, Espresso Capital provides non-dilutive funding options to Canada’s tech industry, including funding to over 240 Canadian SaaS companies and other technology firms.
The company said that Gilbert will use his 12 years of sales and underwriting experience at financial institutions to help support Espresso’s continued growth as director of the firm.
“We are very excited to add Mark to our team,” said Alkarim Jivraj, CEO of Espresso Capital. “He is a very experienced senior technology banker and brings a wealth of high-quality relationships.”
In October, Espresso partnered with Silicon Valley-based SaaS consultancy firm Winning By Design to support SaaS companies in its portfolio, and in December, the company announced the opening of a new Montreal office. With the opening of its new office, Espresso will be looking to expand its client base in Quebec and to support growth of the technology sector in the province.
“We’re growing rapidly in Canada, we’re also expanding into the US and our loans sizes getting bigger,” said Jivraj. “We had [the need] for someone with Mark’s experience and maturity to help support our growth.”
Image courtesy Espresso Capital.