Cerco Funding

What Cerco Funding does

Cerco Capital LLC, operating as Cerco Funding, is a New York-based private bridge lender founded in 2017 that originates short-term, collateralized real estate loans to sponsors and developers across major US markets. Its single core product is a $5-50 million first-mortgage bridge loan with 1-5 year terms, interest-only amortization, floating SOFR-based rates, loan-to-value up to 65%, and minimum-interest prepayment with no lockout; the firm advertises 1-2 week closings and accepts multifamily, industrial, retail, self-storage, hospitality, and mixed-use collateral for acquisition, refinancing, recapitalization, value-add, cash-out, and select construction use cases. The business is fundamentally a financial-services operation rather than a technology platform — there is no proprietary software or AI tooling, and competitive differentiation rests on underwriting expertise, speed, and relationship-based origination rather than product technology.

The firm generates revenue through two streams: recurring interest income on its outstanding bridge loan portfolio and one-time origination fees at loan closing. Go-to-market is exclusively direct-to-borrower, led by Head of Originations Michael Bodnev through sponsor relationships and broker channels such as Marcus & Millichap IPA Capital Markets, with no intermediaries for loan distribution. Cerco's operating footprint is unusually lean for its loan volume: four disclosed senior professionals (CEO Peter F. Cervinka, CIO Wayne Sturman, Head of Originations Michael Bodnev, and Underwriter Franz F. Cervinka) supported by an undisclosed number of additional staff, executing against a $2B+ cumulative origination book across offices in New York (headquarters) and Las Vegas (compliance). Customer segments are horizontal across real estate developers and a secondary niche of distressed-debt investors, with named deals in 2025-2026 spanning Nashville, Manhattan, Washington DC, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Flushing, indicating active geographic diversification within the United States.

Name

Cerco Funding

Legal name

Cerco Capital LLC

Website

https://cerco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cerco Capital is a New York-based private bridge lender founded in 2017 that originates $5-50 million short-term, collateralized real estate loans for developers and sponsors across major US markets, with $2B+ cumulatively underwritten.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Real Estate Bridge Lending

NAICS

Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)

SIC

Mortgage Bankers & Loan Correspondents (6162)

akta.pro primary industry

Balance-Sheet / Portfolio CRE Lending (FSALADAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate Private Credit (CRE Debt) (FSANADAG), Middle-Market Lending (FSANADAI)

Keywords

• Real estate bridge lending
• Commercial real estate finance
• Transitional property loans
• Collateralized bridge financing
• Real estate private lending

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Bridge Loan Interest Income: Cerco Capital generates revenue through interest payments on short-term bridge loans secured by real estate collateral. Loans range from $5-50 million with floating SOFR-based rates. Interest-only amortization with minimum interest prepayment terms.
2. Loan Origination Fees: One-time fees collected at loan origination for underwriting, structuring, and closing bridge financing transactions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cerco Capital is a New York-based bridge lender providing short-term, collateralized real estate financing to sponsors across major U.S. markets. The firm originates loans ranging from $5 to $50 million with 1-5 year terms, up to 65% loan-to-value, interest-only amortization, and floating SOFR-based rates. Loan proceeds support acquisitions, refinancings, recapitalizations, value-add repositioning, cash-out, and select construction activities across multifamily, industrial, retail, self-storage, hospitality, and other commercial real estate asset classes.

Product overview

Cerco Capital offers a single unified bridge lending product for transitional real estate. The platform provides short-term, collateralized financing ranging from $5–50 million with 1–5 year terms at up to 65% LTV, targeting multifamily, industrial, retail, self-storage, hospitality, and other commercial real estate assets. Financing use cases include acquisition, refinancing, recapitalization, value-add repositioning, cash-out, and select construction activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cerco Bridge Lending

Quantifiable outcome

• 1-2 week closing time
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Marcus & Millichap IPA Capital MarketscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 13 March 2026Marcus & Millichap's IPA Capital Markets division arranged the $15.5 million acquisition financing for the Nashville hotel-residence development on behalf of DAC Development, with financing provided by Cerco Funding. This broker-lender relationship represents a key channel for deal flow and transaction execution.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ready Capital Corporation: Publicly traded mortgage REIT (NYSE: RC) originating small-balance commercial, multifamily, and bridge loans nationwide. Comparable balance-sheet CRE lending model at smaller average deal size and broader product mix than Cerco.
• TPG RE Finance Trust: Publicly traded CRE mortgage REIT (NYSE: TRTX) sponsored by TPG originating and acquiring senior floating-rate mortgage loans on transitional CRE. Same commercial bridge-lending focus as Cerco but at REIT-scale with committed capital and broader asset-class reach.
• Ares Commercial Real Estate: Publicly traded CRE-focused specialty finance company (NYSE: ACRE) managed by Ares, originating senior floating-rate transitional CRE loans. Direct product overlap with Cerco, anchored by Ares' broader credit platform and institutional capital base.
• Blackstone Mortgage Trust: Publicly traded CRE mortgage REIT (NYSE: BXMT) managed by Blackstone Real Estate, originating senior floating-rate bridge loans on transitional institutional-quality CRE. Broad incumbent in Cerco's exact product category with much larger capital base and global sponsor relationships.
• KKR Real Estate Finance Trust: Publicly traded CRE mortgage REIT (NYSE: KREF) externally managed by KKR, focused on senior commercial real estate loans including transitional/bridge financing. Comparable product but with institutional sponsor backing and broader origination footprint than Cerco.
• Ladder Capital Corp: Publicly traded commercial real estate finance company (NYSE: LADR) providing senior first-mortgage bridge loans, mezzanine debt, and equity on transitional CRE assets. Same product offering as Cerco at meaningfully larger scale; useful for benchmarking a scaled-up version of Cerco's model.

Direct peers

• LoanCore Capital: CRE debt platform originating first-mortgage bridge and transitional loans on institutional-quality commercial properties. Directly comparable business model to Cerco, though typically at larger deal sizes; serves the same transitional-CRE borrower with similar floating-rate bridge product.
• Mesa West Capital: Private, balance-sheet commercial real estate bridge lender headquartered in Los Angeles, originating senior bridge loans on transitional CRE assets. Highly comparable to Cerco in direct-lender model, deal-size range, asset-class focus, and institutional-but-entrepreneurial underwriting approach.
• A10 Capital: Private commercial real estate bridge lender providing short-term, senior-secured financing on transitional and value-add assets. Closely comparable to Cerco in deal-size range, sponsor-driven origination model, and small-team direct-lender positioning.
• BridgeInvest: National private bridge lender offering short-term, senior-secured CRE loans in the $5-50M+ range to sponsors and developers. Operates with a similar direct-lender, floating-rate, interest-only model to Cerco across multifamily, retail, office, and mixed-use assets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CercoFunding
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cerco-funding-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cerco Funding