ATEL Capital Group, a multi-billion-dollar financial services firm focusing on venture debt, equipment leasing and real estate, added Todd Jaquez-Fissori as senior vice president and Simrat Wason as director of ATEL Ventures, while Nick Martitsch and Maggie Adams joined ATEL Capital Group as senior counsel and legal counsel, respectively.

Jaquez-Fissori has almost two decades of experience originating venture debt and private credit deals, most recently with Structural Capital, where he was a managing partner, and previously with Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Hercules Growth Capital and TriplePoint Capital.

Formerly a vice president with New York hedge fund Arena Investors, Wason previously spent five years with Presidio Ventures, sourcing and managing predominantly early-stage equity in enterprise technology firms. Wason started her career as a software engineer and spent six years with Apple.

“Entrepreneurs and VCs alike understand that venture debt is an essential tool of the capital stack, allowing them to accelerate growth without diluting equity,” Steven Rea, president of ATEL Ventures, said. “The collapse of several banks focused on venture lending in 2023 reduced market competition, allowing us to increase rates as well as volume. Our expanded team will enable us to service the increased demand for venture debt and continue to grow our portfolio, deploying the hundreds of millions of dollars we have available to lend.”

Martitsch and Adams will supporting ATEL Capital Group’s increased deal flow.

Martitsch has almost four decades of experience. In his career to date, Martitsch has handled a range of commercial, financial and intellectual property transactions and related matters, including public and private equity and debt financing, venture lending, and equipment leasing. Martitsch’s experience includes several years with Hercules Capital and Silicon Valley Bank.

For the past five years, Adams has contributed her expertise to global law firms, where she specialized in providing legal services to the financial services industry.