The Agenda
March 6, 2024
The State of the Venture Debt Market
• Overall trends in 2024 and expected in 2025
• Supporting data, including pricing trends and deal volumes and nature of those deals (sector, sizes, etc.)
• Details around breakdown via types of lenders doing deals
• Key terms / themes that emerged
• What to expect in 2025
Two Years On: What’s Really Going on with the Venture Banks?
- Hear from seasoned venture bankers as they debunk the myths and mythology surrounding the banking crisis of 2023:
- Who are the “winners” and “losers” from the banking crisis?
- Has private credit fundamentally changed the venture lending landscape?
- Leveraging “brand” to achieve success.
How To Maximize an Exit From a Troubled Situation
• Plan A: Raise Capital/Bridge Financing
• Plan B: Expedited Sales Process
• Plan C: Corporate Wind Down
• Keys to Lender Success
Enterprise Lending Using Structure, Assets, and Underwriting Strategy
• Using structure and asset base to minimize risk for lenders
• Matching investor appetite to fund structure
BREAK
Timing Considerations: Raising Debt Alongside Equity, Raising Between Rounds, Raising to Fund an Acquisition – and the Unique Considerations of Each Approach
• Value proposition of debt versus equity – various stages of growth
• Cost of capital in flat, rising or struggling valuation environments
• Control and structural considerations alongside or following an equity round
• Assessing the accretive nature of acquisition targets and forecasting financial impact
• Parameters on acquisition advances (fully committed v. fully discretionary or hybrid)
• Who has the negotiating leverage and when (company v. lender) – what creates the negotiating advantages?
• Syndicate and board strength – measuring risk as to future capital raise challenges and ability to support M&A strategies
Venture Debt in the UK, EU and Beyond: Growth Capital for the Global Economy
LUNCH
Lessons Learned in Venture Debt, Post-Workout
- Early signs of distress and how to identify/react
- When to lean in (lend more) versus get out
- Factors that lead to a successful workout
- Tips/Lessons learned for success
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Horizon Technology Finance
Continuation Funds: Should Lenders Think about Reserves Differently?
• Challenges of lending in a weak exit environment
• What is a continuation fund?
• Investor due diligence: support and capacity
BREAK
Venture Debt Deal Sourcing/Origination/Screening
• Where to source high-potential venture debt deals
• Balancing sponsor-backed vs. independent deals
• Avoiding adverse selection and chasing the wrong deals
• Structuring a systematic origination process
• Building rapport with founders, boards, and investors
• The role of brand and reputation in deal flow
• Lessons learned from the most successful (and unsuccessful) deals
Founder, Managing General Partner, & Chief Investment Officer
Applied Real Intelligence (A.R.I.)
Leveraging Intellectual Property (IP) to Access Capital
• How do companies leverage their IP estate to access capital
• A brief overview of the IP valuation process
• Case Study: IP backed term loan
• Case Study: Selling non-core IP
Managing Director
Fortress Intellectual Property Group | Fortress Investment Group
Overview of Differences between Bank and Non-Bank Loan Strategies/Regulation
• Should commercial banks continue to have the right to play in venture lending?
• Should the entire asset class move towards the private credit funds?
• Key differences in terms and structures between banks and private credit
• “Risk” and the different views thereof held by banks vs private credits
• Looking back: Over the past 2 years, how borrowers have viewed banks vs. private lending options
• Looking ahead: How can banks and non-bank lenders work best together over the next 1-2 years?
Cocktail Reception at The Edison Ballroom
The Agenda
As we build toward another successful Venture Debt Conference, our focus is on creating an agenda that sparks the interest of the professionals working in the venture debt market. Here are just a few of the unique presentations and panel discussions we’re developing for The Venture Debt Conference 2025.
- How a Rising Interest Rate Environment Might Impact Venture Debt Pricing and Structure
- Why SVB’s Collapse Created More Competition for High Tech Investment Targets
- Continuation Funds: Should Lenders Think about Reserves Differently?
- Overview of Differences between Bank and Non-Bank Loan Strategies
- Total Addressable Venture Debt Market; 2025 Projections
- Understanding the Underwriting Process: Creditworthiness and Assessment of Equity Sponsors
- Using Warrants and Equity Kickers to Achieve Expected Returns
- Changing Dynamics of the Market: Are Venture Debt Borrowers Still Seeing Valuation Pressure?
- Timing Considerations: Raising Debt Alongside Equity, Raising Between Rounds, Raising to Fund an Acquisition – and the Unique Considerations of Each Approach
- Common Venture Debt Options: Revenue-based Financing, Equipment Financing, Accounts Receivable Financing, Term Loans
- The VD Lender Landscape and Pros/ Cons: Commercial Banks, Specialty Venture Finance Firms, Alternative Lenders
- Alternative Lending Structures: Lines of Credit, Bridge Loans, Factoring, Merchant Cash Advances
- Market Participants: Lenders, Underwriting and Credit Companies, Loan Servicers, Loan Brokers
- Debt for Working Capital vs. Growth Capital
- Learnings from Scaled Companies who’ve Shut Down: What is a “Fundable Asset” in the Current Lending Environment?
- Peripheral VD Investment Strategies: Litigation Funding and Royalty Financing
- Navigating the ‘Lite’ Regulatory Regime: Should Banks be able to Play or does this Asset Class move toward Private Credit Funds
- Sectors Benefitting from Debt Inflows: AI, Cybersecurity, Direct-to- Consumer, Rebounding Crypto?
- Differences Between How Banks and Non-bank Lenders Deal with Workout Situations
