Partners open state’s first SBIC

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Route 2 Capital Partners, a private investment firm formed in Greenville in 2017, has secured its licensure as the state’s first Small Business Investment Company, accredited through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The license means the company can provide $3 million to $15 million of flexible mezzanine and equity financing to lower middle market operating companies from its offices in Charleston and Greenville, according to Kate Cramer, marketing director for the company.

After Route 2 Capital Partners was formed, the partners began raising capital from individuals, endowments, banks and institutions, while going through a 20-month licensing process, Cramer said.

The SBIC license approval process “requires that a firm’s investment mandate, and partners’ experience, indicate that they will and can invest in and serve a smaller, underserved business population.  In return, a firm like R2CP, if … granted a license, receives low-cost government capital to match what they’ve raised in private commitments. This allows ‘limited partner’ investors to potentially maximize their investment returns without the commensurate risk,” Cramer said. 

R2CP was founded by a team of investment professionals and is led by Scott Kester, Patrick Weston, Jay White and Spalding White, according to a news release from the company.