Entrepreneurs, are you looking for investors? FirmFunding is here to help you

In the current context of health crisis, the issue of financing SME development projects has never been more important. Among all possible sources of financing, the private debt financing occupies a prominent place, making it possible to strengthen equity, without diluting the founder's share and preserving the company's cash flow.

How can one access the advantages of private debt when one does not know the professionals (management companies, family offices) who can provide this type of investment? FirmFunding, the first and only platform dedicated to private placement, allows entrepreneurs who are looking for an investor for their development projects to find a solution adapted to their needs.

An online process in connection with the FirmFunding teams, for a quick visibility by investors of the marketplace.

In order to meet the requirements of private debt professionals, FirmFunding has established the following eligibility criteria for financing projects and the companies carrying them out :

• the amount of the project financed must be a minimum of 1 million euros
• the project's sponsor company
  • must be a joint-stock company (SAS, SA...) or likely to be transformed into a joint-stock company,
  • generate a minimum of 5 million euros in revenues and
  • be profitable or close to being profitable (Ebitda>0), in order to generate sufficient cash flow to repay the loan maturities.

Prior to the eventual online publication of the project, the FirmFunding teams are there to assist entrepreneurs in looking for investors, in connection with their investment advice, and to determine with them if their project is eligible. Indeed, the FimFunding platform is intermediated: SMEs can not register directly, it is the advice of SMEs, specialists in equity financing (equity advisors, accountants, lawyers, ...) who are the privileged contacts of FirmFunding first, and secondly, investors. It is therefore the advisors who will proceed with the online publication of the financing file, once its eligibility has been studied by the FirmFunding teams.

The process of putting a financing file online has been simplified and standardized, in order to meet investors' expectations as best as possible. Beyond the minimum legal information on the SME (company name, location of the registered office, Siret, activity...), specific information relating to the financing project itself must be added.

A presentation of the financing projects in order to arouse the interest of investors

In conjunction with their SME clients, consultants are asked to complete standardized documents developed by FirmFunding, Info Memorandum and Business Plan. Any additional document deemed useful and relevant, highlighting the project and the company, can of course be added.

In order to maximize the chances of SMEs to find an investor for their project, the presentation of files on the platform meets the expectations of financing professionals. The documents posted online should provide useful information to investors, on :

• the purpose of the financing project (development, growth, transmission...?)
• the typology and characteristics of the loan envisaged (full equity, full bond, equity/bond mix? duration? rate?)
• the company's ability to redeem the coupons and then, at maturity, the principal, with the available cash flow.

The FirmFunding teams assist entrepreneurs and their advisers in the process of putting their projects online, in order to advise them on the points to be developed and put forward (existence of guarantees promoting the security of the project, details on certain sector specificities, highlighting of strong points, explanations of what could appear as weak points...), so as to arouse the interest of investors registered on the marketplace and to make contact with the SME and its adviser. The FirmFunding teams, after having reviewed these documents and, if necessary, given advice on their presentation and drafting in order to meet investors' expectations, validate the online publication of the file.

Once the project is online, it remains visible for a period of 2 months to registered investors, which is the time needed to initiate the first contacts, discussions and due diligence can then continue, off platform.

The support of FirmFunding's teams, a key factor in the success of the financing project

During the entire upstream phase of the financing project study, as well as during the phase when it is put online, the FirmFunding teams assist the entrepreneur and his advisor in order to determine not only whether the project in question is likely to be financed by private debt, but also to make the best presentation of it in order to arouse the interest of investors. Thanks to her unique experience in the private debt sector, Florence Vasilescu and her teams have acquired a real expertise enabling them to perfectly understand the expectations and investment criteria of private debt financing professionals and to provide entrepreneurs and their advisers with the benefit of these, in order to enable them to find investors.

Regardless of the outcome of an online posting, the financing project remains confidential: the FirmFunding marketplace is closed and can only be consulted by investors who have previously registered and signed a confidentiality agreement. Maintaining confidentiality allows the SME to serenely explore the different financing possibilities in parallel and to negotiate at best. It is even possible, if it wishes, to control access to the financing project to only those investors that it has previously authorized.

The SME and its advisor, during the entire period of the online publication (2 months), has, from the client area of the FirmFunding platform, access to relevant information on the follow-up of its file: number of investors and type of those who consulted its file, reinforced monitoring of the activity of investors on the file, analysis of the FirmFunding teams on their returns. The latter can even, with regard to these returns, give advice on any necessary changes to the project (legal structure, type of financing chosen, etc.) in order to increase the interest of investors.