A Nashville-based lender that specializes in equipment finance just landed new capital.
ConServ Equipment Leasing LLC — which operates as Conserv Capital —raised $13.2 million in new equity capital, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
That's roughly 66% more than what officials set out to raise in January, when filings revealed their ambition to bring in $8 million to the specialized lender.
The new capital comes amid Nashville's frenzied construction blitz, with three dozen cranes dotting the city's skyline.
Data collected by third-party tracker PitchBook indicates the raise could be as large as $14.8 million.
Conserv Capital provides small and mid-size loans and leases to contractors and business owners in need of construction equipment and vehicles, such as dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators and cranes, according to its website. The website states the company's founders — including CEO George Miller II — launched the company in 2015, after many experienced contractors struggled to secure traditional bank loans following the Great Recession.
Attempts to reach Miller on Monday were unsuccessful.
In early 2019, ConServ Capital had more than 800 pieces of equipment with over 500 customers in 23 states, according to its website.
Non-bank lending has become an increasingly popular option for borrowers in recent years. They're less regulated than their bank counterparts, which means they often have a broader pool of potential borrowers to tap into and greater flexibility on what types of loans they can do.
ConServ isn't Nashville only construction-centric financial firm to land new capital this year. In May, Built Technologies Inc. landed $31 million in new equity capital, a year after its first blockbuster raise.
Built, which was founded in 2014, works as a middle-man for those in construction lending by streamlining the way borrowers and contractors access cash from their lenders. Built's platform manages loan disbursements, so banks don't have to manually provide their borrowers with cash on a set interval and borrowers can more easily manage their loan.
