Brian Slipka, the former senior vice president and head of TCF Technology Finance at TCF Capital Solutions/Winthrop Resources, along with Shea Huston, former regional vice president of the central and western U.S. for Winthrop, launched a new capital finance company, Honour Capital.

“We have assembled an all-star team seeking to fill a void in the capital finance market by combining the best aspects of a bank, including access to capital and stability, with the best aspects of being institutionally independent, which includes access to multiple funding sources, less regulation and more creativity in the underwriting and transactional design process,” Slipka said.

In addition to Slipka, who is serving as CEO, and Huston, who will serve as president, the Honour Capital leadership includes Amber Benavides as chief credit officer and Shannon O’Toole as general counsel. Benavides is a former senior credit manager at numerous banks and for Winthrop. O’Toole is an attorney who has represented businesses and financial institutions in all phases of financing and leasing.

“Honour Capital pursues covenant-based relationships in the marketplace, not transactions,” Huston said. “As the banking and technology marketplaces consolidate, companies are left with fewer and more rigid sources of transactional-based capital. We see a tremendous opportunity to fill the void left by banks and traditional vendor captive financing and to help companies achieve the diversified capital structure they need to grow. The uniqueness of Honour Capital is that we have all the tools necessary to deliver this in a culture that values relationships over transactional economics.”

“Honour Capital seeks to disrupt the business-lending market with responsiveness, speed and innovation to out-perform our competitors,” Slipka said. “We help our clients better manage cash flow, budgets and their overall cost structure. Honour Capital brings a veteran leadership team, long-standing relationships, and a track record of innovation and results to bear for our business clients.”

Honour Capital has received backing and equity investment from two bank holding companies: Tradition Capital of Edina, MN, and Choice Financial of Fargo, ND. Both intend to incorporate Honour Capital into their broad growth strategies.