New Catalyst Backs Ferghana in a Push to Redefine Middle-Market Finance

WASHINGTON & NEW YORK – February 10, 2026 – A significant new partnership is set to reshape the financing landscape for America’s middle-market businesses, as New Catalyst Strategic Partners today announced a major strategic investment in the newly launched Ferghana Investment Partners. The deal provides Ferghana, a firm specializing in flexible hybrid capital, with both substantial funding and operational support, signaling a strong bet on the growing need for capital solutions that fall outside the rigid confines of traditional debt and equity.

Ferghana, founded by private markets veteran Hadley Ma, has already made its first investment, providing structured capital to a global licensor of large-scale lagoon systems. This move underscores the firm's immediate intent to deploy its unique model, which aims to support founders and family-owned businesses at critical growth junctures without forcing them to cede control.

Addressing a Critical Gap in the Market

The partnership arrives at a pivotal moment for middle-market companies. For years, these businesses—too large for small business loans but often too small to command the full attention of major Wall Street banks—have navigated a challenging financing environment. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, increased regulation led many traditional banks to retrench, tightening their lending criteria and focusing on larger, lower-risk clients. This has created a persistent funding gap, leaving many promising companies unable to secure the capital needed for growth, succession planning, or management buyouts.

This is the void Ferghana aims to fill with its hybrid capital approach. Hybrid capital is a broad term for financing solutions, such as convertible debt, preferred equity, and mezzanine debt, that blend the characteristics of both debt and equity. These instruments offer greater flexibility than a standard bank loan and are less dilutive than a traditional private equity investment. For a business owner, this can mean securing growth capital while preserving ownership control and participating more fully in the company's long-term success.

“We identified a significant opportunity to serve middle-market businesses at key inflection points where traditional capital providers often fall short,” said Hadley Ma, Ferghana's founder. “Our hybrid capital approach combines sophisticated underwriting with an entrepreneurial mindset, allowing us to structure solutions that aim to protect principal, preserve owner control, and provide participation in long-term upside.” The market for such solutions is expanding rapidly, with the broader private credit sector, which encompasses hybrid strategies, projected to swell from $3 trillion to $5 trillion by 2029.

The Architect of Ferghana: A Veteran's Vision

At the heart of Ferghana's strategy is the deep institutional experience of its founder, Hadley Ma. With nearly two decades in private markets spanning multiple economic cycles, Ma brings a formidable track record from some of the industry's most respected firms. His career includes senior roles at MGG Investment Group, where he was the second investment professional and instrumental in building the firm into a scaled hybrid capital investor with $6 billion in assets. There, he served as Head of Originations and Underwriting and was a member of the Investment Committee.

Before MGG, Ma honed his skills at Sixth Street (formerly TPG Sixth Street Partners), evaluating complex specialty credit opportunities, and began his career at the legendary credit firm Oaktree Capital Management. This background, steeped in disciplined underwriting and a focus on downside protection, is now being combined with an entrepreneurial approach at Ferghana. The firm's philosophy is designed to resonate with founders who are wary of traditional private equity models but require a sophisticated partner who understands complex financial structuring.

The Kingmaker: New Catalyst's 'Next Generation' Strategy

Backing Ferghana is New Catalyst Strategic Partners, an investment firm with a unique mandate. Launched in 2024 with the strategic and financial backing of investment giant Apollo Global Management, New Catalyst's mission is to identify and cultivate the next generation of top-tier private market investment managers. Led by industry veteran Jason Howard, New Catalyst provides what it calls “catalytic” capital—seeding new firms, accelerating the growth of existing ones, and offering the operational infrastructure that emerging managers need to succeed.

This partnership is a prime example of New Catalyst’s model in action. The firm seeks out visionary founders with differentiated strategies and provides them with not only capital but also access to an ecosystem of seasoned professionals for support in fundraising, business building, and human capital. It’s a crucial advantage that can dramatically shorten the time it takes for a new firm to scale.

“At New Catalyst, we seek out Next Generation GPs who serve as thoughtful, value-added partners to the businesses they invest in,” said Jason Howard, Founder and Managing Partner of New Catalyst. “We’ve built conviction that Hadley and the Ferghana team are well-positioned to do exactly that – deliver tailored solutions that bridge traditional financing gaps and support sustainable, long-term growth.”

The Apollo connection provides another layer of institutional credibility. While New Catalyst operates independently, Apollo holds a minority economic interest and provides a cornerstone capital commitment, aligning with its broader initiatives to invest in diverse and emerging asset managers. This structure gives New Catalyst's portfolio firms, like Ferghana, a powerful tailwind as they enter the market.

This is the second major partnership for New Catalyst, which previously announced a strategic investment in Ironleaf Capital, a specialized, technology-focused healthcare private equity firm, in late 2025. The investment in Ferghana demonstrates a clear pattern: New Catalyst is building a stable of highly specialized, expert-led firms targeting specific, underserved market niches. For his part, Ma acknowledged the importance of this support, stating that “New Catalyst deeply understands our ambitions and brings hands-on support to the real operational challenges of launching a new investment firm.” This collaboration not only launches a new player into the market but also provides a potential new blueprint for how specialized investment expertise is nurtured and scaled in the modern financial era.