Two veterans of the sector have launched a new company aimed at offering skilled nursing and senior living financing options.

Jason Dopoulos and Ken Gould founded the new company, which is dubbed Ikaria Capital Group. The new finance firm will be based out of Cleveland, Ohio, initially with 15 staff members and plans to bring additional staff aboard as the year progresses.

“Our team is passionate about the enduring senior living and healthcare real estate sector, while prioritizing longevity in the relationships we build with our clients,” Dopoulos told Skilled Nursing News.

Both Dopoulos and Gould hail from established players in the senior living financing space. They both worked at White Oak Healthcare Partners along with Lancaster Pollard, which was sold to Orix USA in 2017 and later rolled into the Lument brand.

The new firm’s goals include providing a full suite of financing options for health care and senior living providers, from bridge lending to facilitating acquisitions and recapitalizations, along with debt from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Dopoulos said.

Dopoulos and Gould named the company after the small Greek island of the same name, which is known as a “blue zone” with long life expectancies.

The duo’s past experience at White Oak and Lancaster Pollard will help steer the company’s future trajectory, Dopoulos added.

“Our histories at both Lancaster Pollard and White Oak have both contributed to the cohesion of our team, our resourcefulness and our broad-based view of attracting capital to this niche sector,” Dopoulos said.

From a growth perspective, Dopoulos said he sees the team’s past experience with FHA and HUD lending as a differentiator, and he singled out opportunities of “continued growth” in bridge lending as the mergers and acquisition market “maintains a high level of activity” throughout the remainder of 2025.

While the interest rate environment remains “hard to predict,” Dopoulos said the new company expects investment activity to remain active.

“We think investment activity remains high which will continue to fuel the need for flexible debt capital. If interest rates moderate a bit by year end, activity could easily increase further,” Dopoulos said.