Torres starts venture capital firm

Just weeks after he merged SDT Waste and Debris with national waste services provider Progressive Waste Solutions, New Orleans businessman Sidney D. Torres IV has started a private investment firm, IV Capital. Torres, once known as the “Rembrandt of Refuse” during his role on the TLC TV series Trashmen, says he formed IV Capital to provide equity and other forms of capital to small and midsize businesses in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region. “Having lived through the process of growing a capital-intensive business like SDT Waste and Debris, I experienced the hardships that business owners face when operating or growing a company,” Torres said in a statement. “I found it very difficult to obtain short- and long-term operating capital, and my experience was common to many private businesses in this region.” IV Capital intends to invest up to $10 million in businesses in Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast in areas with which Torres and his team have had experience, such as business services, hospitality, energy, real estate, niche manufacturing/industrial, commercial transportation and aviation.