CAPITAL ADVISORY · $10M+ OR COMPLEX STACKS

The middle-market alternative to a sell-side IB.

You're raising too much to broker-shop and too little to justify a boutique investment bank's $250K retainer plus 3–5% success fee. Capital Advisory is the hybrid: we build the institutional file, curate a shortlist of 3–5 vetted lenders per capital-stack layer, and prep you for every meeting. You run the process. Upfront retainer plus a 1.5–2% success fee on capital placed — a fraction of what a sell-side IB charges.

§ 01 · The Positioning

Where Capital Advisory sits.

$100K–$3M · Fast, transactional

Broker / ISO Shop

Blasts your file to 20 lenders. Zero preparation. Best pricing loses to whichever lender is hungriest. Not built for $10M+ deals.

$10M+ or complex · Hybrid

Capital Advisory

Institutional file + curated shortlist + meeting prep. You own the relationships. Upfront retainer plus 1.5–2% success fee on capital placed.

$50M+ · Full sell-side

Boutique Investment Bank

Runs the entire process, negotiates on your behalf. $250K+ retainer plus 3–5% of capital raised. Overkill under $50M.

§ 02 · The Stack

Every layer, matched to the right desk.

Most middle-market raises are not a single instrument. We shortlist lenders per layer so the stack actually clears at closing.

Senior Debt

$10M – $40M

Regional banks, SBA 504/7(a) partners, specialty finance

ABL / Asset-Based

$5M – $30M

Commercial finance companies, non-bank ABL desks

Mezzanine / Sub-Debt

$3M – $15M

Lower-mid-market private credit, BDCs, family offices

Acquisition Financing

$10M – $50M

Bank + private-credit unitranche, SBIC funds

§ 03 · Process

8 to 14 weeks. Retainer + success fee.

01

Mandate & Positioning

Two-week discovery. We stress-test the raise, capital-stack structure, use of proceeds, and exit thesis. Deliverable: mandate memo and target-lender heatmap.

02

Institutional Package

CIM, financial model, QoE-ready adjustments, management bios, market comps, secure data room. Format lenders in this range actually consume — not a warmed-over SBA package.

03

Curated Lender Shortlist

3–5 lenders per stack layer, pre-vetted for check size, sector, and current appetite. We call our contacts before your name is on the file, so the intro warm.

04

Meeting Prep & Term-Sheet Support

You take every lender meeting; we prep you for each one — questions, comps, term-sheet economics, negotiation posture. When term sheets land, we pressure-test them side by side.

Engagements are structured as an upfront retainer scoped by stack complexity, plus a 1.5–2% success fee on capital placed at closing. No broker-of-record relationship — we're your advisor; the lender is the counterparty.

Raising $10M+? Start with a mandate conversation.

30-minute call. We'll tell you honestly whether Capital Advisory fits your raise, or whether Bankable File is the right entry point.