# Rice Park Capital

Rice Park Capital is an Asset Manager based in Plymouth, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Plymouth, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Plymouth, MN, United States
- **Founded:** 2019
- **Assets under management:** $900M+ RAUM (per the firm, 2024; $10B+ team deployment across 30+ businesses)
- **Website:** riceparkcapital.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/rice-park-capital

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 304990
- **SEC file number:** 801-126314
- **Registration status:** Registered
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/304990

## About

Rice Park Capital is an SEC-registered investment adviser in Plymouth, MN, registered since 2022. The firm manages $1.4 billion in assets, with $462 million on a discretionary basis. It has 21 employees and 5 investment advisers.

## Sectors

- PropTech
- Real Estate
- Private Credit
- Enterprise Software

## People

- Nick Smith — Founder, Managing Partner & Chief Executive Officer
- Craig Freel — Partner, President & Co-Chief Investment Officer
- Matt Kennedy — Partner & Co-Chief Investment Officer
- Shawn Kelly — Partner, Chief Operations Officer & Chief Financial Officer
- Craig Opp — Partner, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer

## Questions

### Who makes investment decisions at Rice Park Capital?

Co-Chief Investment Officers Craig Freel and Matt Kennedy jointly oversee investment team activities and portfolio management. Nick Smith, as founder and CEO, holds ultimate strategic authority but operates through a partnership structure that includes five named partners — Smith, Freel, Kennedy, Shawn Kelly (COO/CFO), and Craig Opp (GC/CCO). Venture investments are led by Managing Director Chris Bixby.

### Does Rice Park participate in fund commitments or only direct investments?

The firm operates across three vehicles: direct agency MSR acquisitions, a dedicated venture capital fund series (RPC Ventures), and actively managed real estate credit strategies that include direct operating-company investments. On the venture side it invests directly in early-stage companies; the credit strategy can take the form of both whole-loan acquisitions and portfolio-company stakes.

### How does Rice Park source venture deal flow?

The venture arm — Strategic Equity Investing — is led by Chris Bixby and sits alongside the firm’s MSR and credit operations. Its advisory board includes senior real estate and mortgage industry operators such as the CEO of Matic and the president of Coldwell Banker, who provide origination-side visibility. Rice Park also launched a formal Lender Advisory Board in November 2024, which formalizes a feedback loop with mortgage originators to surface technology gaps.

### What is Rice Park’s approach to mortgage servicing rights?

Rice Park acquires agency residential MSR assets directly and structures the investments to meet the needs of both its limited partners and the operating partners who service the loans. The MSR strategy is run internally alongside the firm’s credit and venture arms, with oversight from Co-CIOs Freel and Kennedy. The team’s MSR experience traces back to managing portfolios exceeding $100B in unpaid principal balance at prior firms.

### Which sectors does Rice Park explicitly avoid?

The firm is concentrated in residential and commercial mortgage, real estate services, and real estate technology; it does not invest in generalist buyout or growth-equity deals outside the property and housing-finance ecosystem. Its venture arm targets early-stage PropTech and mortgage-tech specifically, while the credit strategy is limited to real estate-backed, non-agency loan products.

### How is Rice Park’s venture strategy connected to its credit and MSR businesses?

The three strategies share operational intelligence. Portfolio companies in the venture arm frequently develop tools for mortgage origination, servicing, or underwriting — functions the MSR and credit teams understand as practitioners. The Lender Advisory Board provides an additional channel for direct originator feedback, and senior advisors with operating backgrounds in lending (e.g., Mark Filler, formerly of Prospect Mortgage and Guaranteed Rate) bridge the venture and credit teams.

## Related profiles

- [Rice Investment Group](https://altss.com/profile/rice-investment-group)
- [Richard Brothers, Financial Advisors](https://altss.com/profile/richard-brothers-financial-advisors)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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