KKeyquest Funding
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Est. April 2014 · Charlotte, NC

A decade of getting capital to operators before the deal walks.

We are a hybrid direct lender and brokerage. We hold paper on our balance sheet and we place paper with twenty-three institutional partners. Either way, an Keyquest underwriter is the human reading your file.

Origin

Born from an underwriter who got tired of saying no.

For seven years, Elena Marsh worked the workout desk at a regional bank in Charlotte. By 2013 she had read 4,800 declined SBA applications. Her conclusion was uncomfortable: roughly two-thirds of the businesses she'd turned away were sound — they just needed a different structure than the one her credit committee had a stamp for.

In April 2014 she launched Keyquest Funding from a co-working space on Tryon Street with a thesis on the wall: the right key already exists in the credit market — the quest is finding it before the opportunity moves on. The first ten loans went to a Charlotte staffing firm, a Greensboro HVAC contractor, and eight others her old bank had passed on. Nine of the ten paid in full and renewed.

By 2018 we had crossed $250M in originations. By 2022 we'd been added to the SBA's Preferred Lender Program (PLP), one of fewer than 80 non-bank lenders to hold that designation. Today we operate in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, with $2.4B in cumulative originations and a forty-six-person team.

By the numbers

Twelve years of compounding receipts.

$2.4B
total capital originated 2014 — Q1 2026
28,400+
unique SMBs funded
94.2%
approval rate after pre-qual screen
18 hrs
median time from app submitted to wire sent
63%
of clients renew or upsize within 18 months
23
institutional capital partners on the syndicate
50
states served, plus Puerto Rico and DC
4.9 / 5
average across 1,847 verified reviews
Case studies

Four borrowers, four very different keys.

These are real deals (names changed where requested). Numbers are pulled from our origination ledger.

2022 · Hurricane Ian relief FORT MYERS, FL

Forty-seven Florida businesses funded in fourteen days.

After Ian made landfall on September 28, 2022, our underwriting desk built an emergency pre-qual track that compressed the file review from 36 hours to under 4. Total deployed: $14.8M into rebuild capital, primarily Daybreak Advance and Lightning Bridge structures. Average wire time from intake: 11 hours. Default rate on the cohort, two years on: 0.7%.

Total deployed$14.8M
Businesses47
Avg wire time11 hrs
2023 · Acquisition DETROIT, MI

A second-generation auto shop bought out an eight-bay competitor in six hours.

Devon's father called Tuesday at 6 PM ET — the seller had given them until close of business Wednesday or the deal walks. Our PLP team pulled an SBA 7(a) for $1.1M and bridged the gap with $300K Lightning Bridge against the existing real estate. Both wires hit by 11:48 AM Wednesday. Devon now operates 14 bays across two locations.

Combined facility$1.4M
Time, intake → wire17h 48m
Outcomeclosed, paying as agreed
2024 · Real estate AUSTIN, TX

A bilingual physical-therapy clinic stopped renting its own building.

Maria's clinic had paid $9,200/month in rent for nine years. We structured a Foundation 504 — 50% bank, 40% CDC, 10% equity — for the $1.85M purchase. The 25-year fixed CDC rate locked at 6.32%. Her new mortgage payment came in at $11,400/month. Three years from now she'll have built ~$190K of equity instead of writing it to her landlord.

Project size$1,850,000
CDC fixed rate6.32% / 25 yr
Time to close49 days
2025 · Government contractor ARLINGTON, VA

A 9-person IT firm took on a $4.2M federal task order they couldn't payroll.

A small federal contractor with $1.8M trailing revenue won a Department of Energy task order four times their size. Net-45 invoicing meant they couldn't make payroll for the new staff before the first invoice cleared. We set up a Ledger Float facility against the DOE receivables — 92% advance, 1.4%/30 days — and they grew to 31 staff over the engagement. Facility renewed at $6M for FY2026.

Initial facility$2.5M
Advance rate92%
Renewal$6M / FY26
The road here

Twelve years of incremental keys.

Leadership

The team that signs your file.

EM

Elena Marsh

Founder & CEO

Seven years on workout desks at Wachovia / Wells Fargo. Stanford GSB '07. Reads roughly 40 SBA files a week, still.

MC

Marcus Chen

President, Underwriting

Twelve years at CIT in middle-market ABL. Runs our credit committee. Known for asking "what does the second-worst quarter look like?"

PT

Priya Tanaka

Head of Capital Markets

Built our 23-partner syndicate from a single warehouse line in 2017. Previously structured finance at Goldman.

DB

Devonte Brooks

SVP, SBA Programs

Former SBA Office of Capital Access. Authored our PLP playbook. Closes more 7(a) loans personally than most regional banks.

Capital partners

Twenty-three institutional partners on the syndicate.

When our balance sheet isn't the right home for a deal, we route it. We do not disclose individual lender pricing — we present you the best terms across the syndicate and you choose.

Greybridge Credit
Atlas Working Capital
Northshore SBLC
Veridian Specialty
Liberty Wharf
Crescent ABL Co.
Mariner Equipment
Forge & Foundry CDC
Stonewell Factoring
Halberd Real Estate
Whitestone MCA
+ 12 others

The shortest distance between you and capital is this button.

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