Global investment firm KKR has launched Akrapoint Commercial Capital, a mid-ticket equipment finance platform created alongside a team of industry veterans.

Funds managed by KKR will deploy $350 million through the firm’s Asset Based Finance (ABF) strategy to back the launch. The new company will focus on financing vocational assets, speciality trailers and industrial equipment for small and medium-sized enterprises in the US. Target sectors include manufacturing, energy and power, sanitation, waste services, construction, transportation and logistics. The platform plans to connect equipment vendors, manufacturers and clients with flexible purchasing solutions.

Nate Smith has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Akrapoint. Smith previously spent nearly a decade at Trans Lease overseeing credit, portfolio management, funding and compliance while growing its capital markets division. Gary Shivers, who founded Navitas Credit Corp and co-founded Advanta Leasing Corp and Marlin Business Services, will serve as Chair of Akrapoint’s Board of Directors.

“Demand for vocational, specialty trailer and industrial equipment is growing fast, and the operators who run that equipment need a financing partner who understands their business,” said Nate Smith, CEO & Co-Founder of Akrapoint. “Akrapoint was built to meet this growing need, pairing disciplined underwriting with KKR’s long-term capital so mid-ticket equipment operators have a financing partner they can count on through every cycle.”

“As reshoring, electrification and supply chain resilience drive a multi-year capital spending cycle, demand for essential equipment keeps climbing,” said Daniel Pietrzak, Partner and Global Head of Private Credit at KKR. “Akrapoint’s asset-backed cash flows offer compelling downside protection that aligns well with our long-term capital, and we believe Nate, Gary and their team are well positioned to build a leading platform in the space.”

KKR formed its ABF strategy in 2016. The platform currently manages more than $91 billion in ABF assets under management, supported by roughly 60 dedicated professionals worldwide. The firm operates over 20 captive ABF platforms across consumer and mortgage finance, commercial finance, hard assets and contractual cash flows.

Advising on the deal, Nomura Securities International, Inc. acted as financial advisor, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided legal counsel to KKR.