May Luncheon: Equity Capital from Angel to Exit

May Luncheon: Equity Capital from Angel to Exit

Join us for a lively discussion on equity and debt capital from three funding sources in South Carolina. The panel will cover different financing structures that they use or source to finance the real estate component of a company’s operations at different phases of a company’s life cycle: early stage/start up, growth/expansion, and later stage growth/exit. Discussions will include the investment criteria, sector focus, funding requirements, and their perspectives on the overall economic environment in South Carolina. In addition, the panelists will describe the resources they offer to companies and the roles that they play in assisting management leaders with achieving their goals.

*Our CREW networking time will be from 11:30 am to 11:45 am with announcements, Sponsor recognition, and lunch starting at 11:45 am.

*Food choices are Chef Salad and Broccoli Cheddar Quiche with Salad. Please notify CREW Upstate of any food related allergies.

Moderator:

Karen M. Kassouf

Managing Member, Cedar Ventures LLC

Founder and majority owner of Cedar Ventures LLC, an investment banking firm and a a Municipal Advisor registered with the SEC and the MSRB. Arranged financing for $158 mm of Ground Up construction projects using bonds, guarantees, specialty lender debt, EB5 financing/equity for Senior Housing, Work-Force Housing, Student Housing. Cedar can also use bonds to finance manufacturing companies and hotels with some nexus to a municipality, such as adjacent to a convention center. Cedar Ventures has also arranged sales of health care service companies with revenues ranging from $10 mm to $100 mm in the areas of HMOs, behavioral health, surgery centers, and hospice care.

Panelists:

Matthew Bell

Director of SC Launch and Executive Director of SCRA

As a member of SCRA’s leadership team, Matt Bell is responsible for leading the strategic direction of the SC Launch program, which provides mentoring, networking, and grant funding to eligible companies that are employing new technologies within the advanced materials and manufacturing, information technology, and life science sectors. He also serves as the liaison to the SC Launch, Inc. board of directors, which makes capital investments in SCRA Member Companies that successfully complete the due diligence process. Established in 2006, SC Launch, Inc., is an independent, nonprofit corporate affiliate of SCRA.

Peter Shand

President & CEO of Business Development Corporation of South Carolina

 Peter Shand is President and CEO of Business Development Corporation of South Carolina, a private lending company that specializes in US Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) loan participation. Peter has a 30 year career inn commercial lending in the state, having worked for several small regional and community banks prior to joining BDC in 2013. Peters also serves as Instructor of Commercial Lending and SBA Lending in the South Carolina Bankers School and the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado. He is a 1987 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a degree in Finance. Peter lives in Columbia with his wife Jessica and daughters Grace (8) and Louisa (6).

Ed Stein

Director of Business Development for Azalea Capital

Ed is the Director of Business Development at Azalea Capital. His responsibilities include identifying and evaluating new investment opportunities as well as overseeing the firm’s deal sourcing activities.

Prior to joining Azalea Capital, Ed was the Upstate Regional President in South Carolina for Pinnacle Financial Partners. Before his time at Pinnacle, Ed served in senior leadership roles at South State Bank and Wachovia Bank.

Ed received his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from Furman University. He is a member of the Association for Corporate Growth. Ed is married and has two sons.

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