Elena Hartwell
Co-founder & CEO
Built and sold a regional logistics company before founding Solstice. Spent 18 months unable to get a bank loan during her own growth crunch — and never forgot it.
Our story
We built the lender we always wished we'd had.
Solstice Capital was founded on a stubborn belief: that the businesses doing the hard, honest work of building America deserve capital that's fast, fair, and refreshingly human.
The mission
Funding shouldn't feel like a fight.
We started Solstice in 2014 after watching too many great businesses get told "no" by banks that didn't understand them — or worse, get buried in weeks of paperwork only to be ghosted. The owners weren't the problem. The system was.
So we rebuilt it. We pair real underwriters with thoughtful technology to deliver decisions in 24–48 hours, capital that lands in days, and terms written in plain English. No mazes, no runarounds, no fine-print surprises.
More than a decade later, we've funded over a billion dollars to more than 10,000 businesses — and the thing we're proudest of is that 9 in 10 of them come back when they grow again.
$1B+
Capital deployed to small businesses since 2014
10,000+
Businesses funded across 40+ industries
90%
Of customers renew with us when they grow
24–48h
Typical time from application to decision
What we stand for
Four values, lived daily
Move at your speed
Opportunity has a clock on it. We treat every hour of your application like it's our own deadline, because to you it is.
Radical transparency
Every rate, fee, and term in plain language before you sign. If we wouldn't explain it to our own family, we won't offer it.
People, not portfolios
You get a named advisor who knows your business — not a ticket number bouncing between departments.
Built for the long haul
We win when you grow. Our success is measured in renewals and referrals, not one-time fees — so we structure capital you can actually thrive under.
22% of our growth is word of mouth
More than a fifth of new customers come from a referral. That's the metric we care about most.
Security as a promise
Bank-grade 256-bit encryption and strict data stewardship protect your information at every step.
Leadership
The people behind your funding
Operators, underwriters, and former small-business owners who've sat on your side of the table.
Rafael Ortega
Co-founder & Chief Credit Officer
Two decades in commercial underwriting. Champions the human review behind every approval and the belief that a clean story matters more than a single number.
Naomi Kessler
Chief Operating Officer
The reason funding happens in days, not weeks. Naomi designed the 5-minute application and obsesses over shaving hours off every step of the journey.
Theo Whitman
Head of Customer Success
Leads the advisor team that earns our 90% renewal rate. A former restaurant owner who knows exactly what a slow season feels like.
Our journey
A decade of brighter seasons
2014
The first "yes"
Solstice opens its doors in Austin and funds its first customer — a family HVAC shop turned down by three banks — in under a week.
2017
$100M funded
We cross our first hundred million in capital deployed and launch the 5-minute online application.
2020
Standing by small business
When owners needed us most, we expanded our products and kept funding flowing through one of the toughest years on record.
2023
Seven products, one platform
From lines of credit to SBA loans, our full suite goes live — matching every business to the right structure.
2026
$1B+ and 10,000+ businesses
We celebrate over a billion dollars funded to more than ten thousand businesses — and we're just getting started.
Let's build your next chapter.
See what you qualify for in five minutes — no obligation, no hard credit check.