TRINITY CAPITAL’S EQUIPMENT FINANCE TEAM BUILT NEW UNDERWRITING MODELS TO FINANCE AI INFRASTRUCTURE AND GROWTH
Demand for equipment financing has quickly risen in sectors that don’t fit conventional underwriting models. GPU and compute infrastructure for AI companies, satellite and space systems, autonomous manufacturing platforms and energy infrastructure all presented an attractive opportunity that requires a unique approach compared to the standardized underwriting playbooks.
Trinity Capital’s Equipment Finance team took this challenge head-on by digging deep to fully understand these emerging industries and built underwriting frameworks tailored to how each category actually behaves — tracking depreciation patterns as they emerge, identifying secondary market values and structuring credit protections around the fundamentals that matter most in each sector. The result: a record year that earns it Monitor’s Team of the Year.
In 2025, the team originated $571 million in new equipment finance commitments across 15 investments and funded $365 million in equipment financings. This contributed to Trinity Capital’s record $2.1 billion in total new investment commitments across all verticals for the year. In early 2025, the equipment team surpassed $1 billion in cumulative fundings since 2018 and continues to grow across sectors including manufacturing and automation, energy, aerospace and defense, frontier tech and artificial intelligence.
The team also led the acquisition of Equipment Leasing Services (ELS), an established Southwest-based equipment finance provider that adds a recurring income stream to Trinity’s platform and expands the team’s origination capabilities. Team members point to culture as a throughline to their success: their values of humility, integrity, trust, uncommon care, continuous learning and entrepreneurial spirit are core to the team’s decisions and dictate who they are and how they operate.
Their belief: Align your values and incentive structures as much as you can. In high-pressure situations, you will fall back on your personal and team values. If they are solid, you will be proud of the outcomes.
