We talk with Michael Nobes, Founder of Six Bridges Capital, in New York. Six Bridges is an industry agnostic investment firm. From medtech in Africa to diversion of waste to landfills in the US.They work with various types of investments at various stages. In this episode we learn about alternative financing, advice he would give to individual investors, as well as his projection of trends during COVID-19.



Having the alignment of values (with your portfolio companies) makes it easier to hang in during the tough times, this is critical piece for investors.Michael Nobes, Founder







Transcript of Interview with Michael Nobes



Jenelle:Hello, thank you for speaking with us today, Michael.



Michael Nobes:Thanks very much for having me.



Jenelle:Today, we have with us Michael Nobes, CEO of Six Bridges Capital. You can find out more about Six Bridges Capital at sixbridges-capital.com. Michael, can you tell us a bit about six Bridges, it’s mission and why you founded it?



Michael Nobes:Yes, sure. So we’re a boutique financial services and advisory firm. We’re based in New York. So one of the areas of focus that we have which I think is relevant for the discussion that we’re having is particularly on early stage companies, although we do some middle market transactions and we also work with a VC and private equity funds as well. So typically the partnerships that we have are focused on business development, capital raising. We work with companies to formulate their strategy around product development, go to market and we use our network to access capital and subject matter experts for our clients. I would say really industry agnostic by and large, but being based in New York, there is a bias towards companies in the tech sector, consumer health and some crop tech as well. With regards to on the early stage with regards to the stage that we normally get involved in, I would say it’s from seed onwards, although we do have limited exposure to companies that are sort of like proof of concept and that’s about it.



Jenelle:And can you tell us a little bit about why you decided to found Six Bridges?



Michael Nobes:Yes, so interesting story. So if I worked on a thing, we’ll touch on that a little bit later. If it’s sort of traditional finance and in various different locations in Europe and in North America. And when I left RBC and I started Six Bridges working just generally working with founders setting aside the impact part of working with them. I mean, that’s hugely rewarding as it is working with founders for early stage companies. But then when you couple that with the fact that you really making it, working with people that are making an impact to people’s lives, whether it’s in diversity inclusion, social access to financing, then you know, it’s doubly rewarding to see an early stage company get some traction, get out there in the market and make a real impact to people’s lives.



Jenelle:You use and as does your website use terms like alternative financing and investments? Can you break this down for our audience?



Michael Nobes:Yes, sure. So I’ll try and get rid of all the acronyms and everything just so that people can actually understand what we deem as being the alternative finance world. So working we, with the early stage companies or VCs, it’s really about access to private capital. So that that private capital essentially falls into various different buckets. We have the traditional venture capital funds who are making allocations and investments into impact companies. We then have a group of clients who are family offices.