LOUD Capital named Nishad Parmar a senior partner and chief investment officer. Parmar, who is based out of LOUD’s Chicago office, will be leading the company’s diversified strategy into a new series of alternative investments. Foley & Lardner will be legal partners to LOUD’s Chicago office.
LOUD’s diversified strategy allows investors access to a hybrid package of alternative investment classes, including small business asset-based (debt) lending to life settlements and early-stage equity. Unlike typical alternative investment classes, where investors often have a time horizon of seven to nine years before seeing returns, the strategy allows investors to see consistent ROI throughout the investment cycle, rather than only short-term debt or long-term equity. Private market investments have been shown to be more resilient in times of market volatility, especially during economic downturns.
Parmar has led LOUD’s cash advance and asset-based financing division since 2016, processing $30 million in transactions across more than 350 deals. This lending has offered access to capital for many small businesses with an average turnaround time of 36 hours. More than half (52%) of the companies in which LOUD invests are reinvestments whose businesses rely on a steady injection of capital for sustained growth.
Since LOUD opened its office in the Chicago in 2018, the venture capital firm has made investments in such Chicago-based projects as Breakwater Chicago, the floating entertainment destination; fetal health monitoring tool Raydiant Oximetry, which was founded in Chicago; and IoT cybersecurity tool Xaptum. LOUD also partnered with the Chicago Bulls for a venture competition in late 2019, which provided the winning startup Honest Game, a tool to help student-athletes and schools keep track of college athletic eligibility, with a $50,000 equity investment.
“Our approach at LOUD has always been to find what works best for our investors, portfolio companies and team. Our expansion offers a unique approach to venture through alternative investments, which have proven to be more resilient than public markets to economic winds,” Parmar said. “This diversified strategy will further our ethical approach to investing and our Venture For People philosophy. I am excited to be leading this initiative out of our Chicago office, empowering a great community of investors and entrepreneurs.”
LOUD Capital is an alternative investment and early-stage venture capital firm.
