Robert Napoli has helped finance dozens of startup companies through roles as a senior investment manager at Vancity and as the head of the $60 million subordinated debt fund First West Capital, which is part of First West Credit Union.
He became president of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Vancouver about a year ago and has since helped grow that organization by 50 members to about 170 members. ACG Vancouver is now the go-to association for anyone involved in middle-market dealmaking in Vancouver.
It launched its annual Dealmaker of the Year gala earlier this year.
Originally from Australia, Napoli came to Vancouver as part of a personal trip to see the world. He wound up falling in love with his future wife Kristen Napoli and a city where he would soon start to build contacts.
At Vancity, he provided senior, mezzanine and project financing ranging from $250,000 to $5 million each and was able to close 30 deals with a portfolio of $25 million in six years.
One example of those financings was a loan to Elastic Path Software Inc., which then had about 30 staff. It now has about 220 employees.
He left Vancity along with partner Kristi Miller to launch First West Capital in October 2010.
“We’ve been running the fund for about a year now and we’ve closed nine transactions so far, worth about $13 million,” Napoli told Business in Vancouver in October. “By the end of the year, we’re looking at doing a dozen transactions worth $15 million.” •
