The Agenda
March 6, 2024
Breakfast
Opening Remarks
Presentation
State of the Venture Debt Market
- What is happening in the venture debt market today
- The impact of unpredictable market changes over the past year
- Innovative ways to maximize current venture debt opportunities
Round Table
Venture Debt in a Post-SVB Era
- Circumstances leading to the SVB era and how to rebound
- The evolving face of venture debt today, including
- Navigating the current venture debt market successfully
Panel
Why is Venture Debt a Terrible Idea?
- The good, bad, and ugly of venture debt
- When is venture debt a poor plan?
- Using venture debt wisely to fund growth
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Investment Officer
Horizon Technology Finance
Moderator
Networking Break
Fireside
Preparing Your Company to Receive Venture Debt
- Who should you call, an investment banker or debt broker? What to look for in a venture debt partner
- Preparing for the underwriting process and modeling the financial covenants impact on your company
- Action items post-closing
Round Table
Cross-Border Venture Debt Deals – Israel, UK, Canada, the EU and Beyond
- International venture debt considerations
- Cross-border deals in Israel, UK, EU and beyond
- Unexpected benefits of cross-border venture debt deals
Fireside
A Borrower’s POV: A Look at Late-Stage Venture Debt
- State of the late-stage venture market
- How borrowers benefit from late-state venture debt
- Mitigating potential risks and reaping rewards
Lunch
Panel
VC Debt Lending: How It Is Filling the Funding Gaps in the Equity and Bank Lending Markets
- What are funding gaps, and how do companies fill them?
- VC Debt lending provides essential funds in equity and bank lending markets
- Tapping into the possibilities for growth and revenue
Fireside
Big Check Venture Debt - Large Corporations Need Capital, Too
- Venture debt is writing bigger checks and why
- Large corporations looking for capital know how to find it
- Navigating the landscape for growth and profit
Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Private Credit & Infrastructure
Deutsche Bank
Speaker
Panel
The Proliferation of Deal Terms in a Stressed, Early Stage Financial Market
- Discover real-world venture debt trends and terms
- More about delayed transactions and sponsor selectivity
- Overcoming the challenges of meeting obligations to lenders
Networking Break
Panel
Asset Backed Lenders for Venture-Backed Companies
- Benefits of asset-backed lenders for venture-backed companies
- How asset-based lending provides working capital based on assets rather than credit history
- Ways startups can use asset-backed lenders to support expansion
Panel
A Healthy Alternative: Venture Debt Financing for Healthcare Industries
- Venture debt financing options for health and tech companies
- Non-dilutive financing solutions for healthcare
- Specific concerns related to the health and tech industries
Panel
Valuation and the Delicate Balance Between Growth and Profitability
- Changes in valuation metrics may impact traditional venture debt vs growth debt
- Financial forecasts and cost structures in venture-backed emerging companies
- The increasing importance of the “Rule of 40”
Fireside
Navigating Distress in Venture Debt
- How companies define distress in venture debt
- Role of venture debt in challenging business situations
- Navigation strategies to define and achieve company goals
Closing Remarks
Cocktail Reception (Sponsored by Barnes & Thornburg)
The Agenda
It’s been our philosophy since we started hosting conferences in 2003: “The program always comes first.” When we develop a new event, you can bet that it’s on the cutting-edge. Here are just a few of the unique presentations and panel discussions we’re developing for The Venture Debt Conference 2024.
- State of play: Market size of the venture debt market, growth projections through the next year
- Why venture debt is an increasingly viable way to raise capital in the current market as private equity and venture capital firms tighten their purse strings
- Know your lender: What to look for in a venture debt partner
- A Need for Speed: Why direct lenders can almost always cut a check faster than banks
- How pre-revenue companies can turbocharge business growth with venture debt
- Why venture debt is typically less than half the cost of giving up equity
- Understanding the venture debt underwriting process: Creditworthiness and assessment of equity sponsors
- A word about warrants: how they impact venture debt deals
- Caveats of venture debt financing — from high interest rates to equity expectations
- Understanding debt structures for working capital vs. growth capital
- 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: equipment financing, accounts receivable financing, and term loans
- How companies use venture debt to extend their cash runway and minimize equity dilution
- The lender landscape: Commercial banks, specialty finance firms, alternative lenders
- Exploring revenue-based funding
- Understanding senior loans vs. subordinated debt structures
- Royalty-based funding for life sciences companies
- Using hybrid securities including convertible bonds, preferred stock, and debt with warrant kickers
- Alternative lending structures, including lines of credit, bridge loans, factoring, and merchant cash
advances - How macro credit conditions and economic indicators impact venture debt markets
- The role of market participants: Lenders, underwriting and credit companies, loan servicers, and loan brokers
