Our Team
Our growing team is comprised of executives and industry experts from both institutional lending and investing sectors.
Gaurang Vyas, Founder and Managing Principal
Mr. Vyas is Managing Principal of Rise Line, which he founded in January 2017. He also serves as a member of the Credit Committee. In addition, Mr. Vyas is the COO of LANDC Investment LLC, 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, Paragon Outcomes where he was a member of the Investment Committee. 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 Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Commercial Finance Association (CFA) and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
Dan O’Rourke, President and Chief Credit Officer
Mr. O’Rourke brings over 20 years of financial services and lending experience to Rise Line Business Credit. His career includes significant experience as a co-founder of several lending platforms both in non-bank specialty finance units and for national and regional banks in their asset-based lending divisions. He had served throughout his career in executive roles overseeing underwriting, credit, originations, workout and restructuring. In the aggregate, the platforms he has either co-founded or served in an executive capacity have entered into financing arrangements with over 250 companies throughout the US, Canada and Europe, totaling over $7 billion in originations.
Prior to joining Rise Line Business Credit, he served as Chief Credit Officer at Metis Commercial Finance. Prior to Metis, Dan served as Co-Founder at Salus, where he was instrumental in building the company into an international lending platform with over $1.5 billion in loan commitments in less than two years. Mr. O’Rourke served as Co-Founder and Chief Credit Officer for NewAlliance Commercial Finance, a de novo Asset-Based Lending platform for NewAlliance Bank. Prior to NewAlliance, Dan served in comparable positions with National City Bank and LaSalle Bank. Dan began his lending career at Wells Fargo Bank, within the Foothill division including roles in the Paragon Capital unit that became Wells Fargo Capital. Mr. O’Rourke was a dual major at Boston College, obtaining degrees in Economics and History. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), the Commercial Finance Association (CFA) and the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
Paul Durosko, Managing Director, Underwriting
Paul Durosko serves as Managing Director of Underwriting, and brings over thirty years of financial services and lending experience to Rise Line. For twenty-five years, Paul worked in the commercial finance and lending industry in leadership positions. As a senior executive, he held management positions in areas of collateral examinations, portfolio management, underwriting as well as building and leading all credit aspects of several Asset Based Lending Platforms. Paul has an extensive background in credit, having developed processes and procedures for numerous lending institutions which encompassed their underwriting and portfolio functions, while including both workout and regulatory compliance programs.
Before joining Rise Line, Paul served as Senior Vice President of Credit at Medallion Business Credit. Prior to Medallion, he was a Director at Capflow Funding Group, where he was responsible for managing the Firm’s equity positions while overseeing the surveillance of their factoring portfolio. In addition, Mr. Durosko served as Group Head of ABL at Transportation Alliance Bank (TAB Bank), where he established the Bank’s Asset Based lending guidelines, including its policies and procedures. Before TAB Bank, Paul was Vice President of Firm Credit Risk at Morgan Stanley, where he managed distressed loans. Mr. Durosko developed his career by advancing in various senior level positions at Arthur Andersen, Fleet Capital, Transamerica Business Credit and Comerica Bank. Paul received his Bachelor of Science at the University of New Haven with a major in accounting. He is also a member of both the Commercial Finance Association (CFA) and Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
Rashi Dhir, Of Counsel
Rashi Dhir is a Senior Consultant (Legal) to Rise Line. He is also a Senior Partner at DMD Advocates, an India-based law firm, serving international clients across various sectors. He has close to three decades of corporate and international transactional experience and he has a unique blend of business thinking and strategy to structuring, negotiating and closing complex commercial and corporate transactions. Mr. Dhir advises several multi-national companies, including, a number of Fortune 500 companies, private equity funds, financial institutions and business houses globally in areas pertaining to mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, investments, asset management (private equity funds and hedge funds), project financing, corporate restructuring, structured investments, securitization, structured finance, capital markets and general corporate matters. He has worked with clients to create risk management systems, and legal and compliance infrastructures and has assisted clients to develop first of its kind financial products and structures. From 2002 to 2010, Mr. Dhir was Managing Director and General Counsel at Guggenheim Partners, LLC where he worked with David Conrod. Prior to Guggenheim Partners, LLC, he was senior associate in Corporate & Structured Finance group at Clifford Chance US LLP. Mr. Dhir earned his LL.M. from Harvard Law School, Boston and did his LL.B. from University of Delhi. Mr. Dhir serves as a member of Boards for a number of companies in the USA and India.
Allan Gajadhar, Executive Director, 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).
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 also 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 White, Associate Director, Originations
Michael White is Associate Director of Originations, working as part of the Rise Line deal team. He is responsible for interfacing with prospective clients, providing in-depth credit analysis, and managing deal flow. Michael brings two years’ experience in structured finance and collateral analysis, and is currently completing coursework for the CFA’s Professional Education Programs.
Michael previously worked as a Trade Finance Analyst for Noble Group, where he assisted in managing a $1 billion borrowing base facility and provided analysis on collateral and structured financing deals globally. Michael graduated in 2014 from the University of Delaware with Degrees in both Accounting and Finance.
Michael Wychozowycz, Collateral Analyst
Michael Wychozowycz serves as a Collateral Analyst for Rise Line helping to facilitate client collateral monitoring. Michael brings three years of managerial experience from his 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.
Paul Martin, Senior Managing Director, Credit
Mr. Martin’s career includes over 30 years of full profit center responsibility for asset based lending, commercial banking, corporate finance, consumer banking, mortgage banking, risk management, credit policy, loan workouts and commercial operations in institutions with total assets ranging from startups to $115 billion. He has personally managed a portfolio of $2 billion in outstanding balances, as well as credit, audit, appraisal, business development, underwriting, QC, compliance and operations staffs ranging from five to over 500 individuals.
Prior to joining 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.
Tahmina Igamberdiev, Director, Underwriting
Tahmina Igamberdiev is Director of Underwriting, working as part of the Rise Line deal team. In this role, her main responsibility is supporting the Senior Underwriter in evaluating and presenting business opportunities for credit approval. Specifically, this includes screening potential deal opportunities, interfacing with clients to gather information, conducting in-depth credit and financial analysis, and supporting legal due diligence and documentation efforts.
Tahmina brings four years’ experience in specialty finance and senior secured direct lending. She previously worked as an Associate in the Structuring and Underwriting group at Brevet Capital, where she was involved in all aspects of deal execution and new product development.
Arina Zanin, Associate
Arina Zanin is an Associate for Rise Line monitoring client collateral, screening potential deal opportunities and conducting in-depth credit and financial analysis. Arina brings three years of finance and operations experience from her roles at JP Morgan supporting Global Clearing and Cash Equities business lines. Prior to joining JP Morgan in 2015, Arina worked as a financial analyst at ITG. Arina graduated in 2014 from Binghamton University with a degree in Accounting and concentration in Economics.
Michael Molenda, Managing Director, Originations
Mike joined Rise Line with 25 years of commercial lending experience. Prior to joining, he served as Managing Director of Originations at Regions Business Capital in Chicago and originated a sizeable portfolio of private equity-backed and non-sponsored transactions and contributed to early robust growth for the new office. Prior to Regions, Mike held senior positions at GMAC (now Ally Financial Inc.), Great Rock Capital, CapitalOne, Merrill Lynch, PPM Commercial Finance, and Heller Financial. Mike is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the Commercial Finance Association, and the Association for Corporate Growth. Mike earned his MBA from The University of Chicago and BBA from The University of Michigan. Mr. Molenda recently opened the Chicago office for Rise Line and will be responsible for national origination activity with a focus on the Midwest.
