WhiteHorse Capital builds asset-based finance platform with Alex Knowland and Brenden Gallinek

WhiteHorse Capital's asset-based finance effort is about four months old, according to the two lenders building it. Alex Knowland and Brenden Gallinek said on a Middle Market Growth podcast that they came over to the firm roughly four months before the conversation to build the strategy from a blank sheet of paper. The episode is sponsored by WhiteHorse Capital.

Knowland said he runs originations for the specialty finance business, which in practice means sourcing opportunities and building relationships with the lending platforms and funds that need capital. He said he works closely with Gallinek on structuring transactions and serves as a point of contact for borrowers. Gallinek said his focus is evaluating and structuring those opportunities.

Knowland said the draw was building something at a firm that already has institutional infrastructure, a strong balance sheet, deep LP relationships and a recognized brand, combined with a part of the market growing as fast as asset-based finance. Both men said they have spent much of their careers in specialty finance and lender finance and watched it grow from a more niche asset class into one of the most talked-about parts of private credit.

Gallinek described the underwriting work as reviewing and assessing collateral trends and servicer history, coordinating the third-party workstreams that any transaction depends on, and tailoring borrowing bases that support competitive advance rates. A deep understanding of the business and the underlying sector, he said, is what makes that tailoring possible.

The episode description cites analysis projecting a 10.2% compound annual growth rate for asset-based finance from 2026 to 2035, and says the conversation takes up recent fraud headlines in the space. The description does not name the analysis behind the growth figure or identify the fraud cases.