Funding the Growth of American Entrepreneurship

Flexible Working Capital $500,000+

Lending through Partnership

Promotes Future
Bankability

Funding for now, fitness for the future.

Sawgrass Finance is a Northeast Florida asset-based lender that empowers a business owner to leverage their company’s liquid assets to secure a flexible line of credit without sacrificing equity ownership, customer perception, or future bankability.

Our hands-on partnership with business owners prioritizes continuous improvement and promotes long-term success.

Sawgrass proudly serves small, medium, and large businesses across Manufacturing, Wholesale/Distribution, Importers, Food & Beverage, Staffing Services, Apparel & Accessories, Logistics, Oil & Gas, Technology, and more.

Our Guiding Principles

Agile

Entrepreneurial

Collaborative

Forthright

You’ve got the goods. We’ve got the working capital.

Sawgrass Finance empowers a business owner to leverage liquid assets such as accounts receivable and inventory as collateral to secure a flexible line of credit.

Unlike other loan options, Sawgrass takes no equity ownership, has no negative impact on customer perception, and promotes future bankability.

These and other advantages make Sawgrass ideal for quality businesses experiencing fast growth, insufficient cash flow, declining sales, financial losses, foreign ownership, seasonality and more.

How Sawgrass Serves You

Flexible Collateral

Prime-Based Interest

No Dilution of Ownership

4-6 Week Closing

No Annual Cleanup

Access to Decision Makers

No Harm to Reputation

Promotes Bankability

  • “In Marius and Sawgrass, I found a true partner. When their own lending options didn’t fit our bill perfectly, Marius brought in a specialized partner lender who offered exactly what we needed. Talk about 'Lending Through Partnership.'”

    Matt Fenner, COO | CFO, Caplin Ventures

  • “Marius uniquely understands the modern banker's precise needs — to simultaneously serve the needs of their business owner customers without risking withdrawal of their deposits. Our collaboration with Sawgrass is a true partnership, providing a bridge to fair financing while maintaining our customer relationships.”

    David Davis, President, North Florida at United Community Bank

  • “As one of GrowFL's trusted advisors, Sawgrass Finance embodies our guiding spirit — to ‘take successful companies to the next level.’ Squarely business owner-centric, the Sawgrass team makes owners’ interests a primary focus of everything they do.”

    Jennifer Taylor, CEO, GrowFL

  • “There’s no doubt about it: our business was complicated. Two entities, multiple layers of collateral, seasonal demand, and perishable inventory. No other lender took the time to understand our operations, yet they gave us their attention, understood our value, and gave us the working capital we needed to thrive."

    Jian Wen Wu, Former CFO, Stromberg Brand

How Sawgrass Works

Sawgrass’s revolving line of credit is designed to sustain — and empower — constant changes in a business, unlocking additional working capital as demand grows.

Liquid Assets

Sales or Inventory Unlock Funds

Borrowing Power

Up to 85¢ per $1 Invoiced and 50¢ per $1 of Inventory

Advance rates subject to change

Working Capital

Sawgrass Provides Cash Advance

Customer Payments

LOC Credited, Interest Reduced, and Additional Funds Unlocked

How Sawgrass Stacks Up

When compared to traditional lending, factoring, or equity investment, our Asset-Based Lending product offers significant advantages to business owners pursuing growth via leverage.

Your Able Credit Partner

Whether experiencing operational peaks or valleys, think of Sawgrass.

Opportunistic Times

Fast-Growing

Limited Track Record

Debtor Concentration

Needs Seasonal Accommodations

Foreign Ownership

In need of Flexible Working Capital

Challenging Times

Declining Sales & Trends

High Leverage

Negative Net Worth

Financial Losses

Insufficient Cash Flow

Inadequate Debt Service Coverage Ratio

Leadership

Sawgrass Finance was founded by a pair of experienced risk management and global financial market executives, driven to address a rapidly growing need in the lender space.

  • Marius Dobren is the President of Sawgrass Finance responsible for leading the company business development and growth strategy, strategic planning, private credit market research, borrower relations and marketing.

    Marius began as a collateral analyst for a commercial finance firm in New York and worked his way up as he learned the trade. Prior to founding Sawgrass Finance, Marius was the managing partner for TD Advisory Group, a field examination company servicing the asset based lending and factoring industries throughout the United States.

    Marius is a committed resident of Ponte Vedra, Florida, where he serves with business and non-profit organizations such as GrowFL, First Coast Manufacturers Association, Turnaround Management Association, Association for Corporate Growth of North Florida, Jacksonville Business Professionals and the YMCA.

    Marius graduated from the University of North Florida, with high honors.

  • Vadim Toyberman is the Chief Credit Officer responsible for underwriting, oversight of credit portfolio and client retention.

    Vadim began his lending career in 1996 when he joined and learned the art of ABL at Century Business Credit Corporation, the largest privately held factor in the country at the time. Vadim was then hired by a small and little known trade finance company called Gerber Trade Finance in the middle of 2000 as a Chief Credit Officer. At Gerber, Vadim started and directed the asset-based lending division, which became the Company’s main lending product and the company was rebranded to Gerber Finance in 2003. By the time Vadim decided to relocate to Florida in 2016, Gerber Finance had become a well-recognized nationwide asset-based lender.

    Prior to founding Sawgrass Finance, Vadim was the managing partner for TD Advisory Group, a field examination company servicing the asset based lending and factoring industries throughout the United States.

Board of Advisors

  • “Sawgrass’s entrepreneurial approach brings much-need innovation to the commercial lending space. I share their motivation to empower small and medium businesses with creative working capital amidst a dynamic economic climate."

    An eight-time founder, Ben’s leadership journey includes spearheading a forensic accounting research firm, managing a short-biased hedge fund, and orchestrating various private equity investments across a wide range of industries and geographies.

    Ben was integral in the founding, growth, and successful sale of North Avenue Capital, a specialized commercial lender. The company achieved profitability every quarter of its existence, experienced multiple years of 100% revenue growth, and exceeded net income margins of 50% before its acquisition by Veritex Bank (VBTX) in 2021.

    Ben serves as a director at various foundations and non-profit organizations, and readily lends his expertise as an advisor to early-stage businesses.

    Ben holds an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology (with high honors) and an MBA from The Harvard Business School (with honors).

  • “I share Sawgrass’ values – supporting innovation, empowering businesses and contributing mightily to the growth of American entrepreneurs – and am honored to work alongside Marius and the impactful board he has assembled.”

    As Founder of Advos Legal, Gwen represents clients in various fields including technology, health and wellness, entertainment, insurance, staffing, advertising, construction, professional services, and others.

    Gwen has held roles in several C-Suite level positions across law, administration, development and strategy, leading acquisitions, day-to-day legal operations, and financial restructuring.

    Gwen serves as Chapter President and Board Member of the Association for Corporate Growth of North Florida and has served in various roles for Florida Venture Forum, Jacksonville Women’s Business Center, and GrowJax. Recognitions include awards from Leadership Jacksonville, Jacksonville Business Journal, Women Business Owners of North Florida, Pioneer Award, Martindale Hubbell AV Preeminent® peer-rated attorney, and Florida Trend Legal Elite.

    Gwen graduated from the University of North Florida and holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, with honors.

  • “The relational and strategic approach Sawgrass brings to the market is a refreshing contrast to an industry dominated by transactional players. Marius and his team know how to be true partners: understand the need, assess the opportunity, and provide a tailored solution that creates value. For me, playing a small part in upholding that ethos is an honor!”

    Currently serving as CEO of North Avenue Capital, Joseph Rowell has 25 years of operating experience in high-profile positions in financial services, organizational development, investment operations, business development, and strategic planning.

    Prior to NAC, Joseph served in Director-level roles for Regency Lighting and Wells Real Estate Funds, where he provided leadership and support for the investment operations of a $10 billion commercial real estate portfolio of Class-A office buildings. Other roles have included a faculty position for Wells University and Investment Operations for Ronald Blue & Company.

    Joseph serves in various advisory and Board roles with small businesses and nonprofit organizations in his community, including a 4-year appointment to the St. Johns County Industrial Development Authority Board

    A graduate of Georgia State University, where he earned both an undergraduate degree in Finance and his MBA, Joseph lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with his wife and five children.

  • “Having worked for the big banks for 36 years, I know their shortcomings in meeting the needs of small to medium businesses. Marius’ team at Sawgrass is filing a much needed void in the working capital required of today’s entrepreneurs with a flexibility that banks are not willing to match.”

    As a former BBVA international bank CEO, Nelson brings over 38 years of financial experience to Sawgrass board.

    Nelson currently leverages this experience at Farther, where he is building a network of bank-related products commonly used by its clients. With his own client base, Nelson focuses on helping owners of privately held businesses with all things financial — focusing first on the elements of planning, whether it’s related to corporate, personal, and/or employees.

    Nelson is a graduate of Louisiana State University and also completed executive management programs at the University of Texas at Austin and IESE International University in Europe. He is the immediate past chairman of the Gator Bowl organization and is deeply involved in the Florida business and non-profit community. Nelson lives in Jacksonville Beach, Florida with his wife of 30+ years, Judy.

Invest in Sawgrass

Verified investors are invited to view additional content in our password-protected Investor Briefing page.

To learn more about investing in Sawgrass Finance, contact Sawgrass President Marius Dobren.

Let’s talk.