Slater has invested $250,000 in the startup to kick off a $2 million Series A round of venture capital, [Slater Fund managing director Thorne] Sparkman said, and it has committed another $250,000 to complete the round.

RightPath’s Business Payment Connection software is a Web-based program designed to improve the payment process particularly for small companies, replacing a seller’s trade credit – which it extends to buyers until it gets paid – with credit from lenders such as banks.

RightPath earns a set percentage of each transaction paid by the seller. One model that the company uses gives the lending partner 2 percent and RightPath 1 percent of the invoice.

“It’s a giant, giant opportunity,” Sparkman said. “Just in small business [the market] is probably $5 billion.”

The company expects to hire 20 employees during 2007, with positions in software engineering, technical support, customer service and sales...[and] most of the jobs will be based in Rhode Island.

“There were really two reasons” to move the company to Rhode Island, said [RightPath CEO Dennis] Lynch, who has a home in Providence. “One was I was located in southern Connecticut and a lot of the team was in the Boston area, so it’s a good midway point. Also … Slater is based in Rhode Island and wants to invest in companies that want to build their futures in Rhode Island.”