Committed to Your Success
"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team."
— Phil Jackson
A Different Kind of Financial Firm
NorthStar Finance is an independent alternative investment and advisory firm with leadership that has a wealth of experience as advisors, principal investors, and executives of successful companies.
The Firm is focused across a broad range of credit, equity, and real estate strategies, working on behalf of corporations, sponsors, family offices, and institutional investors. We are passionate about helping our advisory clients address financial and operational challenges by providing sound and unconflicted advice.
Our team is comprised of seasoned professionals who have a wealth of experience in principal and advisory roles in the institutional world and in a management capacity starting and scaling companies on Main Street.
We leverage our global network of capital providers and industry leaders to help our advisory clients, portfolio companies, and investment partners meet their objectives. Our integrated platform allows us to bring multiple capabilities to bear on a single client relationship.
The Team
NorthStar Finance is led by a team of seasoned professionals with direct experience as advisors, principal investors, and operators of successful businesses.
Thomas Lovell is Founder and Managing Partner of NorthStar Finance. He has a deep understanding of middle market credit and commercial real estate, having closed over $2 billion in transactions over the course of his career. As a strategic advisor, he is focused on structuring capital solutions and investment transactions for private companies, financial sponsors, family offices, and institutional investors. As a principal investor, Thomas is focused on commercial real estate and venture stage equity investments.
Prior to founding NorthStar Finance, Thomas served as a Senior Advisor at STREAM Capital Partners, a middle market real estate advisory firm focused on sale leaseback and investment transactions. Before that, he was Managing Director at STORE Capital, an Oaktree Capital-backed NYSE-traded REIT focused on sale leaseback transactions with middle market companies, where he led acquisition efforts across the company's largest geographic territory. Earlier in his career, Thomas served as a Director at STREAM Capital Partners and as a Senior Associate at AIC Ventures, a private REIT focused on acquiring office and industrial properties through sale leaseback structures. He began his career as a Credit Analyst at United Financial of Illinois, specializing in equipment and structured financing.
In addition to his advisory and real estate work, Thomas has invested in and serves on the boards of multiple early-stage companies, bringing capital, strategic guidance, and his network to founders navigating the challenges of building and scaling a business.
Thomas is actively engaged in civic and philanthropic leadership. He serves as Chairman of the Cancer Research Committee of the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the Herbert Business School at the University of Miami.
Edris is a seasoned startup and growth-stage entrepreneur who has over 15 years of experience scaling national consumer and franchise brands. He founded and scaled two franchise concepts from the ground up, including a wellness brand that resulted in a successful exit.
His most recent start-up enterprise, Lucky Dog Mobile Groomers, is a portfolio company of NorthStar Finance where Edris is the Founder and a Board Member. Lucky Dog Mobile Groomers is one of the fastest-growing national mobile dog grooming brands in the United States, expanding rapidly through a licensing model that blends local ownership with a scalable brand engine.
Before becoming a founder, Edris led the marketing and expansion strategy for a Top 10 U.S. franchise system, driving growth to over 700 locations nationwide and managing $5M in annual marketing and advertising spend. His background also includes leadership roles across four SaaS startups, contributing to over $100M in recognized revenue through enterprise software implementation and strategic delivery.
Now serving as Entrepreneur in Residence for NorthStar Finance, Edris brings a founder's lens, operational rigor, and a track record of high-growth execution to portfolio companies and investment opportunities. He resides in Houston, Texas with his family and is a graduate of Abilene Christian University. He is actively involved in local charities including Heroes for Children and serves as a board member of Back Porch Foundation.
Eric Augustyn is a Senior Advisor to NorthStar Finance.
Eric is also the Managing Partner and Co-founder of August Hill, a private office focused on enabling PropTech and real estate companies to scale more effectively. He is additionally the Founder of Stronghold Property Management and Atlas Investment Group, an alternative investment firm that acquires multi-family and retail assets and provides private capital to small businesses. Eric is also an investor in Lucky Dog Mobile Groomers, a growing mobile pet grooming franchise.
Prior to his entrepreneurial work, Eric served as Chief Operating Officer of Revantage Corporate Services, a Blackstone portfolio company, where he led transformative programs to accelerate innovation and build a global operating model. Before that, he spent 12 years at Goldman Sachs as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Equities Trading Services, where he developed a global operations strategy and built shared services teams across the United States and India.
Eric served on the Board of Directors of the Clark Planetarium and is a graduate of Bucknell University with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He also completed the Global Strategic Leadership Program at Wharton Executive Education.
Stefan Shircel is an Advisor to NorthStar Finance and serves as Head of Advisory at August Hill, where he helps executives across real estate, financial services, and insurance go-to-market and scale revenue using proprietary market insights and strategies.
Stefan specializes in working with companies across single-family residential, multifamily, and InsurTech. At August Hill, he has progressed from Manager of Strategy and Operations through Director of Client Engagements to his current role as Head of Advisory, building a track record of delivering results for clients across the real estate ecosystem.
Prior to August Hill, Stefan was a Management Consultant at Accenture, where he advised clients in the CFO and Enterprise Value practice across real estate, consumer goods, and financial services. He began his career in finance and accounting at Kohler Co. Stefan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago, where he was a Presidential Scholarship recipient. He is a member of the Associate Board of the Harold E. Eisenberg Foundation.
The Principles That Guide Our Work
Every value we hold is an expression of a single commitment: to be a fixed, reliable point of guidance for every client and partner we serve. That is what the name NorthStar means to us.
Independence
NorthStar operates without the conflicts that can arise from proprietary trading desks, captive capital, or institutional mandates. Our advice is driven solely by what is best for our clients.
Alignment
We invest our own capital alongside our partners in every principal transaction. This alignment of interests ensures that our conviction is genuine and our incentives are shared.
Expertise
Our team brings direct experience as advisors, principal investors, and operators of successful businesses. We understand the challenges our clients face because we have faced them ourselves.
Relationships
We have built deep, long-term relationships with capital providers, industry leaders, and operating partners across the country. These relationships are a core competitive advantage for our clients.