Cerebro Capital, a commercial loan marketplace, hired John Robinson and James Paterson as managing directors of credit origination. Together, Robinson and Paterson will source credit opportunities among private equity firms, investment banks and other advisors to the middle-market for placement on Cerebro’s platform.

Cerebro Capital was started in 2017 to help middle-market companies navigate the opaque commercial loan market. Cerebro has grown rapidly since its inception and today works with thousands of borrowers to connect them to lenders from more than 1,500 lending institutions for credit facilities and loans. As Cerebro’s customer base continues to expand, skilled originations professionals are critical to supplement its existing channels of growth. To date, borrowers have sourced $3.3 billion of proposed loan commitments on the platform and Cerebro is seeing significant growth, particularly in the asset-based financing segment.

“As our organization continues to evolve as a best-in-class marketplace for commercial borrowing, it is paramount that we bolster our team with professionals with the right mix of industry experience, ingenuity and work ethic,” Matt Bjonerud, founder and CEO of Cerebro, said. “We’re thrilled to welcome industry veterans John and James to our team. Their middle-market lending expertise will be key to accelerating our growth.”

Robinson joined Cerebro as a managing director of credit origination. He has more than 35 years of lending and advisory experience, including 15 years as an asset-based lender for two regional banks. Robinson is a board member of ACG Maryland, a past president and board member of the Chesapeake Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, and a certified turnaround professional emeritus. Outside the office, he is a board member of the Baltimore Community Toolbank.

Paterson joined Cerebro as a managing director of credit origination. Prior to joining Cerebro, Paterson was a managing director for Ares Management and a senior originator at PNC Business Credit and CIT. Paterson is also a board member of TMA Southern California and SFNet Southern California.