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OWNLY CAPITAL
Capital for the Lower Middle Market
DISCIPLINED LENDING. TRUSTED PARTNERSHIPS. BUILT FOR BUSINESS OWNERS.
Ownly Capital is the fund management and capital advisory arm of The Ownly Group, LLC. Direct loans are originated by Ownly Diversified Credit Fund I, LP. This page is operated separately from ownly.com, which is run by Ownly Connect, LLC.
Ownly Capital
Who We Are
Banks have tightened lending standards for thirteen consecutive quarters. Small business lending has declined 18% in real dollars since 2019. Corporate bankruptcies hit a 15-year high in 2025. The companies that power the American economy — essential service providers, manufacturers, infrastructure operators — are being turned away by the institutions that once served them.
Ownly Capital exists to fill that gap. We originate senior secured loans to operating businesses with real cash flow, real collateral, and real owners. We don't chase volume. We don't over-leverage borrowers. We fund only what a business can sustainably carry — and our track record reflects that discipline.
We're not a marketplace. We're not a fintech. We're a relationship-driven lending platform built by operators who've collectively deployed hundreds of millions into small and mid-sized businesses — and who believe the lower middle market deserves a capital partner that shows up with discipline, speed, and conviction.
We fund businesses directly through our private credit fund — and when a deal isn't the right fit, we connect owners with a trusted network of bank and non-bank capital partners. Either way, you get a path to capital.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The structural retreat of traditional banks from small business lending is not a cycle — it's a permanent shift. Regional bank consolidation is accelerating. Credit standards are at their tightest in over a decade. And the 200,000+ companies in the $10M–$100M revenue range — businesses too large for SBA programs and too small for institutional attention — are caught in the middle.
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence. 2025 is full-year actual (785 filings). Includes public companies or private companies with public debt (min $2M assets/liabilities) and private companies (min $10M assets/liabilities).
This creates a dual opportunity: direct originations to creditworthy borrowers who've been turned away by their banks, and acquisitions of performing loan portfolios that banks are selling to meet regulatory capital requirements. Both come at an attractive basis because the sellers are motivated by regulatory pressure, not credit quality.
The lenders who combine trust, speed, discipline, and technology will define this market. Ownly Capital is built to be that lender.
OUR BET ON THE LOWER MIDDLE MARKET
Source: "Labor Market Impacts of Al," Anthropic Research, March 2026. Figure 2 (inverted). Theoretical capability per Eloundou et al. (2023).
The lower middle market isn't just underserved — it's the most resilient segment of the American economy. These are businesses built on work that AI structurally cannot replace: construction, transportation, production, installation, agriculture, healthcare support, food service, protective services. The sectors where Anthropic's AI capability model collapses are exactly the sectors where our borrowers operate.
They're not chasing growth at all costs. They're owner-operated, cash-flow positive, and embedded in their communities. They don't pivot — they show up every day. And they employ 48 million Americans.
This is where we lend. Not to software companies compressing to zero margin. Not to businesses one foundation model update away from irrelevance. To the owners who run the economy everyone else depends on.
our approAch
We lend the way banks used to — with relationships, rigor, and a long-term view — but with the speed and flexibility that today's business owners need.
- Senior Secured, First-Lien Focus — We originate primarily first-lien loans to operating businesses with demonstrable cash flow and tangible collateral: receivables, equipment, inventory, and real property.
- Disciplined Underwriting — We fund only what a business can afford to repay. Our underwriting combines traditional credit analysis with proprietary data intelligence from OwnerIQ, our platform built on 30M+ owner records. The result: a sub-1% default rate across our previous funding companies.
- Relationship-Driven Origination — We don't cold-call. Our deal flow comes from the Ownly community — a network of business owners, banking partners, and financial professionals who trust us with their clients because we've earned it. This gives us access to opportunities that traditional lenders never see.
- Flexible Structures — Loan sizes from $500K to $10M. Terms from 12 to 60 months. We structure around the business, not around a rigid product menu — refinancing, growth capital, bridge loans, and special situations. For larger loans or deals that fall outside our fund's criteria, we bring in co-investors and lending partners from our broader capital network.
OWNLY DIVERSIFIED CREDIT FUND I
Our first institutional fund — built on a foundation of decades of lending experience. $100M of senior secured capital deploying into the lower middle market at a moment of unprecedented structural opportunity.
The Ownly Diversified Credit Fund I is our primary investment vehicle — a $100M private credit fund deploying senior secured capital into the lower middle market at a moment of unprecedented structural opportunity.
The fund originates loans to operating businesses with real cash flow and tangible collateral — receivables, equipment, inventory, and real property. We also acquire performing and non-performing loans from banks under pressure to reduce exposure, turning the banking retreat into a direct sourcing advantage.
Every deal is underwritten with discipline: Credit Committee approval, senior secured positioning, and a focus on lending only what a business can sustainably carry. We don't chase volume. We structure around the borrower, not around a product menu.
The fund is managed by a team that has collectively originated hundreds of millions in loans to small and mid-sized businesses, built and scaled multiple lending platforms, and operated at the intersection of credit, technology, and data. This is our first institutional fund — built on a foundation of decades of lending experience.
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