Our Team
Our growing team is comprised of executives and industry experts from both institutional lending and investing sectors.
Gaurang Vyas, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Vyas is Chief Executive Officer of Rise Line, which he founded in partnership with LANDC Investment, Rise Line’s founding sponsor. Mr. Vyas was previously Managing Director and a founder at Enhanced Specialty Finance where he was responsible for sourcing and evaluating specialty finance investment opportunities. Prior to launching ESF, Mr. Vyas was Co-Chief Investment Officer and Partner at a $1+ billion family office. Mr. Vyas played a key role in developing the firm’s investment program and led investments in asset classes across credit and equity strategies including investments in consumer and commercial finance. Prior to joining the family office, Mr. Vyas covered specialty finance companies in the financial institutional group at UBS Investment Bank. Prior to that, he has also held positions as engineer in consulting firms and startups. Mr. Vyas holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Secured Finance Network and the Turnaround Management Association.
Paul Martin, Senior Managing Director of Credit
Mr. Martin’s career includes over 30 years of full profit center responsibility across various commercial lending disciplines. He has managed a portfolio of $2 billion in outstanding loan balances, as well as operating teams ranging from five to over 500 individuals.
Prior to co-founding Rise Line Business Credit, he was the EVP & Chief Credit Officer of NewStar Business Credit, an independent financial services firm providing asset-based financing to businesses nationally. Paul was also co-founder of NewStar Business Credit’s predecessor, Core Business Credit, where he served as EVP and Chief Credit Officer. Prior to Core, Mr. Martin served as Chief Risk Officer of First Horizon Home Loans, the 12th largest originator of home loans in the United States. Prior to First Horizon, Paul spent 17 years with HSBC Bank USA where he held various Credit and Line Management positions including Chief Credit Officer, Head of Credit Policy, Head of Credit Operations and Deputy Head of Asset based Lending. Mr. Martin began his career with stints in Asset Based Lending at Shawmut Bank of Boston and Bank of Boston. Mr. Martin holds a BSBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior and an MBA in Finance and Investments from Babson College.
Allan Gajadhar, Executive Director of Loan Operations
Allan Gajadhar serves as Executive Director of Loan Operations and brings over fifteen years of financial services and operational experience to Rise Line. His career includes significant experience in the operational aspect of asset-based lending. He has served throughout his career in management roles overseeing daily collateral, banking and workouts.
Prior to joining Rise Line, he served as Vice President of Operations at Medallion Financial Corporation and prior to that served as Vice President, Client Services of Medallion Business Credit (a division of Medallion Financial Corp). Before joining Medallion, he held a managerial position in the US wholesale market industry. Mr. Gajadhar has an Engineering degree from The University of the West Indies, Trinidad. He is a member of the Commercial Finance Association (CFA).
Francisco Machado, Director of Portfolio Management
Francisco serves as Director of Portfolio Management and brings over 23 years of experience. For fifteen years, Francisco worked in commercial finance in various capacities including risk and portfolio management, systems integration, sales, and launching FinTech & ABL platforms. Prior to joining Rise Line, Francisco was Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Siena Lending Group, LLC. Francisco’s ABL background also includes various credit roles at BurdaleCapital Finance and GE Capital.
Francisco earned an MBA from the University of New Haven and a BBA from Western Connecticut State University.
Shelby Lau, Collateral Analyst
Shelby Lau is Collateral Analyst working as part of the Rise Line operations team. In this role, her main responsibility is to analyze, post, monitor and communicate with borrowers regarding daily and monthly processing of collateral.
Shelby graduated in 2020 from the St. John’s University with Bachelor of Science Degrees in both Finance and Government & Politics.
Paul Szep, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Szep serves as Chief Financial Officer of Rise Line. He also serves as CFO of LANDC Investment LLC. With over 20 years of experience in public and private accounting Mr. Szep has developed specialized skills in Accounting, Tax and Operations for hedge funds, private equity funds and broker dealers. Paul is a CPA in the state of Pennsylvania and a FINRA series 27 FINOP. Prior to joining LANDC in 2014, he held accounting manager titles for PEF Services, a private equity administrator, and Rothstein Kass & Co, an audit and administration firm for alternative investment funds. In the private market he served as the Controller and Chief Financial Officer for a multi-billion dollar NY-based hedge fund from 2004 to 2010. He graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Montclair State University.
Michael Wychozowycz, Controller
Michael Wychozowycz serves as a Controller for Rise Line helping to facilitate the financial oversight of the firm. Michael brings three years of managerial experience from his concurrent role as Assistant Controller for FocusPoint. He helped the CFO run the organization by implementing several new company wide systems and providing accounting, compliance and HR support as needed. Prior to joining the FocusPoint in 2014, Mr. Wychozowycz worked as a staff accountant for PEF Services, from 2011 to 2014, where he administered the back office accounting and reporting for multiple private equity clients including Mezzanine, SBIC Debenture, Growth Equity and Drop-Down Funds.