New lender backed by Zip and Stake founders unlocks $20m for asset-rich tech founders
As Australian start-ups stay private for longer, a growing class of founders and early employees are wealthy on paper but locked out of that wealth without selling equity. Traditional lenders won't touch private company shares as security. Rampart Capital is stepping into that gap.
The specialist lender has deployed more than $20 million in the past 12 months, providing bespoke loans secured against private company shares, private market fund interests and other alternative assets.
Rampart is backed by Zip co-founder Larry Diamond and Stake co-founder Matt Leibowitz, and has secured its warehouse funding through private credit funder, Eldium. The business is led by founder Trevor Abromowitz, an actuary by training who built and ran a $5 billion credit portfolio that included repo and scrip lending.
“Australia’s financial system understands payslips, property and listed shares, but it is not designed to assess wealth held in a high-growth private company,” Abromowitz said. “Our borrowers want access to capital without giving up ownership and future upside.”
Facilities typically start at $500,000, with borrowers bridging to a liquidity event, a capital raise or secondary transaction, 12 to 24 months out.
Diamond says the pattern is consistent across the founders Rampart Capital is supporting. "They're backable, they've built genuinely world-class businesses, and they're staying private longer than ever."
"They want to diversify, but above all they want to stay invested in the company they built. The market hasn't given them a way to do both at once. Rampart does."
Rampart Capital’s growth points to a developing market for liquidity solutions as Australian technology companies delay exits and venture funds extend beyond their original 10-year lives.
Early use cases include a proptech founder who topped up his holding to avoid dilution in a capital raise, and a fintech founder who used a Rampart facility against his remaining stake to fund his next venture after a partial sell-down.
"We're familiar with the frustration of having real equity value but no way to fund a new idea," Diamond said. "Rampart Capital is the missing piece of financial infrastructure for the next generation of Australian wealth."
About Rampart Capital
Rampart Capital is an Australian specialist lender helping founders, executives and high-net-worth individuals unlock liquidity from illiquid assets without needing to sell.
It provides bespoke lending solutions secured against private company shares, private market funds, listed equities, digital assets, and other alternative assets. Led by an experienced team with deep backgrounds in asset management, credit, fintech and risk, Rampart combines institutional lending discipline with a practical understanding of founder and investor needs. The firm is expanding its private-market liquidity offering, giving equity holders access to capital while retaining ownership and future upside.
