ApplePie Capital appointed franchise industry veteran Ronald Feldman as chief development officer. In addition, ApplePie announced the acquisition of Funding Solutions, a national franchise lending consultancy that specializes in SBA, conventional and equipment finance loans. Feldman and Funding Solutions’ managing partner Randy Jones will join ApplePie’s leadership team and serve as new head of originations.

Currently, ApplePie serves more than 40 franchisors including Orangetheory Fitness, Jimmy John’s, Jersey Mike’s and Marco’s Pizza.

“These developments are a game changer for ApplePie and the brands we serve,” said Denise Thomas, CEO and co-founder of ApplePie. “In addition to the decades of franchise finance experience we are bringing on board to accelerate new product innovation, we can now provide comprehensive lending programs to franchisors, eliminating the need for their franchisees to engage with multiple lenders.” Thomas continued, “By combining the $500 million in committed capital we’ve raised for our core growth product with a diverse lender network, we can ensure that our franchisee clients have access to the right financial solutions, wherever they are in their development cycle.”

Responsible for growing ApplePie’s brand portfolio and contributing to product strategy, Feldman comes to the company with more than 20 years of experience in franchise leadership and franchise financing. He previously served as chief development officer at FranData and as a principal and co-founder of Franchise America Finance and The Siegel Financial Group. Feldman was also an early franchisee of The Goddard School system. As an active advocate of the franchising business model, Feldman currently serves the International Franchise Association (IFA) as chair of the supplier forum advisory board and sits on both the board of directors and the executive committee of the association.

“ApplePie is uniquely positioned to transform franchise finance by using technology and franchise data in new and innovative ways to make financing simple and predictable,” Feldman said. “They also truly understand what drives growth and work backwards from the needs of franchisors to develop custom solutions for their franchisees. I am thrilled to bring my expertise to ApplePie and help build on the momentum they have created in just a few short years.”

Funding Solutions is a six-person franchise loan consulting firm based in Michigan that has connected thousands of franchisees with SBA, conventional and equipment loans since 1999. The Funding Solutions brand is merging into the ApplePie brand.

“Our team couldn’t be more excited to join ApplePie. Their values are aligned with ours, their franchisor-centric approach to doing business mirrors our own, and by combining forces and leveraging their technology and access to capital markets, we can provide a superior experience for the franchisors and franchisees we serve,” Jones said.