Pearl Capital Business Funding, a provider of direct financing to small- and mid-size businesses, has closed on a $20 million financing from Arena Investors, a New York-based global investment firm.

Axxcess Capital Partners acted as sole placement agent for the transaction. CEO of Axxcess, Eli Spiro, stated, “We were pleased to assist the talented Pearl team with this transaction and have a high degree of confidence in their ability to continue offering stellar financing products to their broad customer base. Arena will enhance their financing capabilities even further.”

Pearl Capital provides alternative financial solutions to the underbanked and unbanked business sector. Through its national origination platform, Pearl’s financings are available throughout the country to small and midsized business that are unable to access sufficient traditional financing from banks and non-banks lenders.

In 2015 Pearl was acquired by Capital Z Partners, a private equity investor focused exclusively in the financial services industry.

“With the support of our outstanding financial partners we can continue to expand our mission of supplying funding to any small business with the desire for capital and ability to thrive,” said Solomon Lax, chief executive officer of Pearl Capital Business Funding.

Arena Investors is a global investment firm and merchant capital provider that seeks to generate attractive, risk-adjusted, stable, and uncorrelated returns by opportunistically investing across the entire credit spectrum in areas where conventional sources of capital are scarce.

Axxcess Capital is an investment banking and financial advisory firm focused on clients in the specialty finance and other alternative investment sectors.