Runway Growth Capital announced promotions for several members of its investment team. Edward Chen becomes Managing Director, and Yifan Lai and Avisha Khubani advance to Principal.

Mr. Chen, Mr. Lai and Ms. Khubani will continue to report to Greg Greifeld, Managing Director, Deputy Chief Investment Officer and Head of Credit at Runway. In their elevated roles, they will be responsible for advancing Runway’s credit-driven investment process. This process has helped Runway maintain industry-leading low credit losses (0.0% net cumulative since inception) – a direct result of the firm’s disciplined underwriting and monitoring.

“Edward, Yifan and Avisha have been integral to ensuring that Runway identifies and selects the right opportunities and that we do everything possible to support portfolio companies while protecting our investors’ capital,” explained Greifeld. “Their collective attention to due diligence, deal structuring, and portfolio monitoring has contributed to the consistent strength of our credit quality and makes Runway stand out in a crowded field of capital providers servicing late and growth stage companies. We entrust Edward, Yifan and Avisha to continue their exceptional efforts, and look forward to them making an even greater impact on Runway and its portfolio partners in years to come.”

Edward joined Runway Growth Capital in April 2017 as a senior associate and member of the investment team, working his way up to Vice President and then Principal. Before Runway, he was a private equity associate at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (“WCAS”). Edward has been integral to the formation and execution of Runway’s investment process, which has resulted in a peerless track record of loss-adjusted returns. His leadership in the development of a differentiated and disciplined credit-first approach to growth lending with a focus on deep fundamental due diligence has been essential to scaling the firm and in building cumulative invested capital.

Yifan joined Runway Growth Capital in July 2020 as an associate and member of the investment team, and was promoted to Vice President last year. Before Runway, he was a senior associate and founding team member at Freemark Partners, the family investment firm for Howard Marks, co-founder of Oaktree Capital. During his tenure at Runway, Yifan has led and participated in more than 20 new investments and helped grow the credit function from four to nine team members. He is an active contributor to building and refining Runway’s data and process-driven investment approach (specifically on due diligence and deal structuring) and organizational procedures.

Avisha joined the Runway team in October 2018 as a vice president to advance the firm’s portfolio analytics and monitoring. Before Runway, Avisha was a Vice President with Duff & Phelps (now known as Kroll) within the Portfolio Valuation service line. Avisha established the monitoring and valuation departments at Runway, and over the years has developed a set of repeatable and consistent processes, contributing to Runway’s success and scalability. The portfolio has grown over 600% on an assets under management (“AUM”) basis during her tenure, further underscoring the importance of portfolio monitoring. Her dedication has allowed Runway to maintain long-term partnerships and help portfolio companies navigate challenging situations.

Together, the three will continue to represent Runway and ensure the firm remains a diligent, steady partner that provides minimally-dilutive capital to passionate and driven management teams of growth businesses.