HIGH
PERFORMANCE
CREDIT
We seek to deliver differentiated returns¹ generated from growth-stage companies in the lower middle market.
LAGO Evergreen Credit BDC's lower middle-market focus and innovative approach to private credit offers the opportunity for premium risk-adjusted returns focused on generating attractive current cash yields.
OUR APPROACH
OUR FOCUS
Our investment process emphasizes rigorous risk management and downside protection, aiming to preserve investor capital through careful structuring, underwriting, and active portfolio oversight.
We seek opportunities to invest in growth companies in markets where capital demand exceeds available credit. This dynamic creates potential for attractive risk-adjusted returns, driven by compelling current cash yields and potential upside from equity-linked positions such as warrants.
OUR APPROACH
Our underwriting and structuring process is designed to enhance portfolio resilience across market cycles. We structure loans with risk-mitigating terms, allowing for proactive adjustments when necessary to help support positive outcomes for both our firm and our borrowers.
We actively seek differentiated private credit investment opportunities by identifying borrowers developing products and services aligned with evolving economic trends. Our approach focuses on analyzing long-term macroeconomic trends to identify investment themes and sectors that may create attractive opportunities for private credit investments over time.
We maintain active engagement with our portfolio companies, their sponsors, and other credit providers to support ongoing communication and oversight. This approach enhances collaboration with management teams, helps us assess potential investment opportunities, and allows for continuous borrower performance monitoring to identify risks and respond proactively when needed.
WE PROVIDE CAPITAL TO GROWTH COMPANIES IN UNDERSERVED MARKETS WHERE WE BELIEVE OPPORTUNITY AND RISK ARE OFTEN MISPRICED.
We seek to partner with innovative companies that are working to capture opportunities and/or addressing challenges shaping the 21st Century.
Product Details
Friction feeders are our most common style of carrier feeder. They feed a wide variety of folded and flat products and can be setup in many different configurations. Basic friction style feeders can be configured for many applications while more complex speed following, batching and counting feeders can be setup to meet your more challenging feeding needs.
OUR APPROACH
Fanfix is a creator monetization marketplace designed for Gen Z; providing a safe space for influencers to earn from exclusive content, messaging, and tips while prohibiting adult content. The platform focuses on social-first discovery, direct fan engagement, and data-driven monetization tools, giving young creators the ability to build their brand, generate income, and maintain creative control. The platform aligns with Gen Z's digital habits, with 90% of traffic coming from mobile, primarily through Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Youth Opportunity (YOI) is committed to improving the lives of at-risk youth by giving them the tools they need to succeed and paving the way for a better future. The Company operates 21 residential treatment facilities and offers a comprehensive suite of services to provide enhanced care to improve the welfare of at-risk youths.
Galileo Learning operates award-winning summer camps and expanded learning programs at over 60 locations in Northern and Southern California, Chicagoland, Denver and Seattle. Created by a team of teachers, artists, makers and engineers, Galileo's imagination-sparking curriculum unlocks the innovation skills kids need to thrive and persist in the face of challenges.
Fortem Technologies develops solutions and strategies in C-UAS (counter-unmanned aerial systems), ISR (intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance), perimeter security, airspace safety, and several emerging airborne markets. Best known for their TrueView® radars and autonomous DroneHunter® interceptors, Fortem works with military, government, and commercial customers to solve drone-related security and defense challenges while simultaneously laying the groundwork for AAM (advanced air mobility).
Founded in 2016, Roq.ad is an AI-powered data-as-a-service company that focuses on addressing a key challenge in digital marketing: linking a user's multiple devices while adhering to privacy regulations. The Company's platform uses probabilistic AI models to create a unified user identity across devices, unlike traditional solutions that treat each device separately, allowing for more accurate marketing without breaching privacy standards.
Hearth Display is a centralized touchscreen device designed to simplify family organization by providing a shared platform for managing schedules, tasks, and routines. With features like calendar syncing and customizable to-do lists, Hearth empowers families to foster responsibility and independence among all members while seamlessly integrating into home life.
Everywhere Communications provides multi-mode cellular and satellite data communications powered by patented technology deployed in mission-critical environments for over 10 years. Everywhere Communications is trusted by over 350 enterprise and government customers that are deployed in over 150+ countries around the globe to ensure global connectivity whether in or out of cellular coverage.
Founded in 2013, Tulip is a cloud-based software provider focused primarily on offering a mobile clienteling solution for retail stores. The Company's products include a mobile associate app, a retail software platform that enables stores to elevate the in-store experience, and an enterprise point-of-sale system for modern omnichannel retail.
Corporate Governance
Tim Gottfried
Interested Trustee
Tim A. Gottfried has served as a trustee and CEO of LAGO Evergreen Credit since October 2024. Mr. Gottfried has over 25 years of principal investing and corporate finance experience, most recently as co-founder and CEO at LAGO Asset Management, LLC.
Prior to co-founding LAGO Asset Management in May 2019, Mr. Gottfried was a co-founder and investment committee member of Stonegate Capital, LLC, a lower middle market-focused finance company from 2016 to 2019. At Stonegate, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for growing to $150 million in commitments, prior to its ultimate sale to another lower middle market finance company. Prior to Stonegate, Mr. Gottfried was an Officer and the Assistant Treasurer for CDW Corporation, a Fortune 250 company from 2010 to 2016. As the Assistant Treasurer, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for the capital strategy for CDW, which included over a dozen debt and equity transactions totaling over $15 billion in transaction value, including the Company’s IPO on NASDAQ. Prior to CDW, Mr. Gottfried was employed at Cerberus Capital Chicago, LLC, an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, LP. While at Cerberus, Mr. Gottfried was responsible for originating and structuring second lien and equity transactions, primarily for distressed targets and borrowers. In addition, Mr. Gottfried was the primary liaison responsible for oversight and deal origination through Cerberus’ equity investment in Hilco Trading, LLC, a business services company focused on asset appraisal and liquidation. During his association with Hilco, Mr. Gottfried assisted in the structuring of the in-court acquisition of all or a portion of the assets of several national retailers.
Mr. Gottfried’s credit experience also includes over $2 billion of bank loans and high yield securities underwriting while working in the Leveraged Finance group of JPMorgan Chase in New York. Mr. Gottfried has additional experience originating, structuring and negotiating M&A transactions while working at middle market broker/dealers including William Blair & Company and Mesirow Financial. Mr. Gottfried received an MBA from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Honors) from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.Mark Buffington
Interested Trustee
Mark Buffington is Founder and CEO of BIP Capital, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser, which was formed to identify and capture extraordinary investment opportunities for investors while promoting the innovation economy. In addition, Mr. Buffington has served as CEO of the Company since August 2022. Prior to founding BIP Capital, LLC, Mr. Buffington co-founded and served as CEO for BIP Wealth, LLC and was involved in all phases of that firm’s development from its founding.
Mr. Buffington has led investment rounds in more than 80 companies in numerous industries (Healthcare, Digital Media, Ed Tech, Enterprise SaaS, FinTech and Advanced Computing).
Mr. Buffington serves on the board of Trustees of several companies, including the NFHS Network, Trella Health, PlayOn! Sports, Rhyme and Oncolens. He also serves on the nonprofit board of Buckhead Coalition, Inc. and has served on several other nonprofit boards, including the Georgia Tech College of Computing. Mr. Buffington graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology and received an MBA from the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane University.John Loverro
Independent Trustee
John Loverro has 19 years of private equity experience. Since 2005, Mr. Loverro has been a Partner at Lexington Partners, where he is primarily engaged in the origination, evaluation and management of equity co-investments. In addition, Mr. Loverro is a member of Lexington’s co-investment funds investment committee. Lexington Partners is one of the world’s largest and most successful managers of secondary private equity and co-investment funds. Lexington helped pioneer the development of the institutional secondary market over 30 years ago and created one of the first independent, discretionary co-investment programs 25 years ago. Lexington has total capital in excess of $75 billion.
Prior to joining Lexington in 2005, Mr. Loverro was a Vice President in investment banking at JPMorgan and prior to that he was a fixed income portfolio manager at PIMCO/Oppenheimer Capital and Assistant Treasurer at Banco Mexicano.
Mr. Loverro graduated from Fairfield University with a BA in economics and from the Darden School at the University of Virginia with an MBA.Frank E. Roedl
Independent Trustee
Frank E. Roedl was an Executive Vice President at a wholly owned affiliate bank of Synovus Financial Corporation, where he served from 1996 until he retired in 2014. Upon retirement in 2014, Mr. Roedl established a financial consulting business specializing in working with privately owned commercial businesses.
Mr. Roedl began his 43 yearlong business career by joining a Wall Street investment banking boutique in 1971. The investment firm had a deep history in the origination, underwriting, and distribution of corporate and municipal debt securities. Mr. Roedl’s tenure with the firm was primarily spent working with institutional buyers of the debt instruments. In the late 1970s, Mr. Roedl joined Citizens and Southern National Bank of Atlanta, Georgia. He worked in the Fortune 500 market representing the Bank to firms with an economic presence in the Southeast. Between 1982 and 1986, Mr. Roedl managed the Bank’s Chicago Office with responsibility for the five midwestern states surrounding Chicago. In 1986, Mr. Roedl managed the Trade Finance Department of the International Division and in 1988 he started a specialized lending unit to bank media and communications companies.
Mr. Roedl sits on the Board of Harrison Poultry, Inc., a 60-year-old poultry company, and on the Advisory Board of a statewide credit union. For fun, he manages a long stock portfolio of family assets and an income producing equity derivatives portfolio.Robert Vedra
Independent Trustee
Robert Vedra is a founder and Senior Managing Director of Industrial Opportunity Partners, LLC (“IOP”), a private equity firm focused on investing in middle-market manufacturing and distribution businesses. At IOP, he holds a leadership role in all aspects of managing IOP, including origination, execution and oversight of investments, as well as internal IOP management and participation on the investment committee. He serves as a director of many of IOP’s portfolio companies.
Prior to the founding of IOP in 2005, Mr. Vedra was a Managing Director at another Chicago-based private equity firm focused on investing in similar businesses and where he held a leadership role on several prominent private equity investments. Prior to that position, Mr. Vedra worked within the Merchant Banking group of GE Capital, specializing in sourcing, structuring and underwriting senior debt placements for middle-market companies. Prior to completing his MBA degree, he worked at LaSalle Partners Limited. He began his career with Ernst & Young LLP, where he was a staff auditor.
Mr. Vedra graduated from the University of Michigan with an MBA degree with High Distinction and from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA degree with Honors.