Venture financing in Chicago, IL

If you are running a startup business in Chicago, IL, you may be interested in securing venture financing to get the business off the ground. Venture financing is invested in early-stage high-risk startups and small businesses with the potential for substantial long-term growth. Customers Bank offers a range of commercial loan products that may meet your needs.

Our Venture Banking Group focuses primarily on recurring revenue, subscription-based, and Software as a Service (SaaS) businesses backed by top-tier private equity and venture capital firms. We specialize in $2MM-$100MM loans but can customize a solution to suit your requirements.

How venture financing works

Venture banking offers a source of capital that complements private equity financing, providing extra capital to fuel a business’s growth initiatives without diluting the ownership stake of existing investors.

Venture financing generally comes from wealthy investors, investment banks, and other financial institutions. It funds new businesses that do not have access to stock markets and lack the cash flow to take on debt.

Venture capital investments are usually made in multiple stages. Each stage provides the startup with more capital to fuel its growth. The main stages of venture financing are:

Seed stage: This is the earliest stage of business development when entrepreneurs attempt to turn a product or service idea into a concrete business plan that might develop into a successful business. Amounts funded in this stage are ordinarily small and used for marketing research and prototype development.

Startup stage: At this stage, R&D is typically completed. The company has a business plan and is ready to market to potential customers. Although there may be a product prototype to show investors, more cash is usually required to fine-tune products and services, hire more personnel, and cover advertising costs.

First stage: Also called the “emerging stage,” financing at this stage typically coincides with a market launch, when the company is about to start seeing a profit. The capital usually goes toward product manufacturing, sales, and increased marketing expenses as the company becomes operational.

Expansion stage: In what is also called the second or third stage, the company seeks growth funding it can use to build the business further through market expansion or adding a new product line.

Bridge stage: At this stage, financing is typically for full-fledged, mature businesses to support activities like mergers, acquisitions, or initial public offerings (IPOs). At this stage, many investors choose to sell off their shares to exit the company and earn a significant return on their investment.

Next steps

If you are just getting started in a high-growth industry, such as technology or biotech, or are developing a product with the potential for significant revenue growth, you may be an excellent candidate for venture financing from Customers Bank. Our team is ready to help you achieve your growth goals and reach the next level of success. Contact us to get started.