Joshua Franklin

Joshua Franklin is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Crystal Financial LLC, a Boston-based independent commercial finance company that provides senior and junior secured, asset-based, and cash-flow term loans (roughly $10 million to $150 million) to middle-market companies. He joined Crystal in 2006 and, beginning in 2010, served as a Managing Director and team leader within the firm's underwriting and portfolio-management group before moving into firm-wide operational leadership.

In 2013, Franklin was promoted into the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer, taking responsibility for several critical operational functions including finance, CRM, HR, and compliance, as well as IT infrastructure and operational initiatives. He also holds the Chief Financial Officer title. Under the firm's later affiliation with SLR (the platform behind SLR Credit Solutions), his role has been described as "Group CFO – Specialty Finance Verticals," serving as the financial and operational leader for the specialty-finance divisions.

Before Crystal, Franklin was a director at Citizens Capital, Inc., the private-equity arm of Citizens Financial Group, and worked with Crystal Capital. He earned a B.S. in Finance from Towson University and an M.B.A. from the Olin School of Business at Babson College, with additional coursework at the Harvard University Extension School. He holds the CFA and CPA designations. Originally from Monson, Massachusetts, he is active with the Boston Security Analysts Society, Mass Mentoring Partnership, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.

• Operates as a direct lender, not an equity investor — Crystal Financial / SLR Credit Solutions provides senior and junior secured, asset-based, and cash-flow term loans to middle-market companies.
• Typical facility sizes run from roughly $10 million to $150 million (firm-level check size for debt facilities).
• Targets established middle-market borrowers, often in situations requiring flexible or structured credit rather than traditional bank financing.
• Franklin's personal remit is operational and financial leadership (underwriting/portfolio management earlier in his tenure; finance, compliance, HR, IT, and CRM as COO/CFO) rather than sourcing venture-style equity deals.