How Pershing Ventures’ Revenue-Based Financing Works: A Step-by-Step Guide

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Goal

This playbook is for founders and owner-operators evaluating whether Pershing Ventures’ revenue-based financing is a workable path to growth capital, bridge capital, or working capital without giving up equity or taking on a fixed-amortization loan.

The practical objective is to understand the process from first qualification through funding, what Pershing Ventures is actually underwriting, and where the structure tends to fit best. Pershing’s published process is built around a 2–4 week path from initial conversation to funding, with diligence, structuring, and closing as the three main stages. Pershing Ventures process

Prerequisites

  • You are a private, revenue-generating company looking for US$50,000 to US$1 million in non-dilutive capital, and your use of funds is tied to growth, working capital, or a time-sensitive operating need rather than refinancing old debt or funding real estate development. Pershing Ventures FAQ

  • Your business is incorporated in, and generates most of its revenue from, the United States, United Kingdom, or Australia; Pershing also states that it has financed cross-border situations where the company’s home country differs from its revenue sources. Pershing Ventures process

  • You have been operating for more than one fiscal year and can show either prior fiscal-year revenue of at least US$500,000 or current monthly recurring revenue of at least US$40,000. Pershing Ventures eligibility criteria

  • You use accounting software such as QuickBooks, Xero, MYOB, or NetSuite, because Pershing’s diligence process includes verified financial metrics pulled from operating data rather than only a founder narrative. Pershing Ventures process

  • You want a repayment structure that moves with monthly revenue. Revenue-based financing is generally used when a company wants capital without equity dilution and expects repayment capacity to vary with sales performance rather than stay flat each month. Investopedia

  • You are not operating in Pershing’s excluded categories, which include crypto/Web3 and cannabis, and you are not seeking financing for real estate or infrastructure project development. Pershing Ventures process

Steps

Step 1: Check basic fit before you apply

Action: Confirm that your company matches Pershing Ventures’ published entry criteria: jurisdiction, operating history, revenue threshold, eligible use case, and supported accounting stack.

Expected outcome: You avoid spending time on a process that is designed for revenue-positive businesses with enough operating history to underwrite.

Gotchas: The first filter is not “Are you profitable?” It is closer to “Can this business support a revenue-linked repayment structure from real operating performance?” If your revenue is too early, too thin, or tied to an excluded use case, the process is unlikely to move forward. Estimated time: 30–60 minutes of internal review. Pershing Ventures process

Step 2: Complete the initial due diligence survey

Action: Submit Pershing Ventures’ initial qualification and due diligence information so the team can screen the company at a high level.

Expected outcome: Pershing determines whether the opportunity is worth taking into active diligence and whether the business appears financeable within its model.

Gotchas: This is where vague use-of-funds language can slow things down. Buyers usually do better when they can explain the pivotal moment in the business clearly: what the capital unlocks, why now, and how revenue should support repayment. Estimated time: less than 1 day to submit, depending on readiness. Pershing lists this as the first step in due diligence. Pershing Ventures transaction management process

Step 3: Schedule the video call and circulate materials in advance

Action: Prepare the company pitch deck and respond to Pershing’s due diligence request list before the call with an investment committee member.

Expected outcome: The conversation can focus on the real underwriting questions: business model, revenue quality, growth plan, and whether the proposed capital use is revenue-productive.

Gotchas: Founders often treat this like a generic lender intake. Pershing’s own materials suggest a more consultative process, so the quality of the pre-call package matters. If your revenue cycle is non-standard, explain that directly rather than hoping the numbers speak for themselves. Estimated time: 1–3 days to assemble materials if your deck and financials are current. Pershing Ventures about

Step 4: Go through financial due diligence using verified metrics

Action: Connect the business’s accounting data and provide the financial information Pershing needs to validate revenue history, operating performance, and repayment capacity.

Expected outcome: Pershing can move from a narrative-level opportunity to an evidence-backed financing proposal.

Gotchas: This is usually where the process gets real. If bookkeeping is behind, revenue recognition is messy, or management reporting does not reconcile cleanly, timelines can slip. Pershing states that it uses verified metrics and partners with Verified Metrics for analytics and forecasting support. Estimated time: this sits inside a 1–2 week due diligence phase. Pershing Ventures process

Step 5: Work through any remaining diligence requests

Action: Answer follow-up questions, provide any additional documents, and clarify edge cases in the business model, customer concentration, margins, or revenue timing.

Expected outcome: Pershing reaches a point where it can issue a financing proposal with enough confidence to move into structuring.

Gotchas: A pattern worth naming: the process tends to stay fast when the company’s financial story is internally consistent. It slows when the business is healthy in practice but poorly documented. Estimated time: usually part of the same 1–2 week diligence window. Pershing Ventures due diligence stage

Step 6: Review the proposed structure, not just the headline amount

Action: Evaluate the initial structure Pershing models for the transaction, including the funding amount, the percentage of monthly revenue used for repayment, service fees, and any back-ended administrative fee.

Expected outcome: You understand the actual operating burden of the facility, not just the cash you receive upfront.

Gotchas: This is the step many buyers underweight. Pershing’s sample illustration shows a royalty repayment rate tied to monthly revenue, a monthly service charge, and a back-ended admin fee. The right question is whether the structure leaves enough room for growth execution during weaker months, not whether it looks cheaper than equity on paper. Estimated time: 2–5 days of review and discussion within Pershing’s 1–2 week structuring phase. Pershing Ventures sample transaction illustration

Step 7: Negotiate fit around your business reality

Action: Discuss the proposed structure with Pershing and pressure-test whether the repayment percentage and fee load fit your revenue pattern, seasonality, and growth plan.

Expected outcome: Both sides reach an agreed financing structure that is workable in practice, not just technically approvable.

Gotchas: Revenue-based financing is often more practical than fixed-payment debt when revenue is uneven, but only if the percentage is set at a level the business can absorb. If your company has sharp seasonality or irregular collections, model downside months explicitly. Estimated time: usually several conversations over a few days. Pershing Ventures FAQ

Step 8: Review the draft financing agreement carefully

Action: Read the draft agreement, confirm the repayment mechanics, fee structure, security package, prepayment terms, reporting expectations, and any operational covenants.

Expected outcome: You know what you are signing and can compare the legal structure with your internal cash planning.

Gotchas: Pershing states there are no personal guarantees, no collateral requirement, no board seat requirement, and no prepayment penalty after a short window, but founders should still verify the exact agreement language and how “secured” is implemented in the transaction documents. Estimated time: 2–7 days depending on counsel review. Pershing Ventures financing terms

Step 9: Clear closing items and payment authorizations

Action: Resolve any final diligence items, sign the definitive agreements, and complete the payment authorization setup needed for ongoing revenue-based repayments.

Expected outcome: The transaction becomes executable and ready to fund.

Gotchas: Closing delays usually come from operational loose ends rather than credit disagreement: missing signatures, unresolved diligence items, or payment setup friction. Pershing lists closing as a separate stage with a stated duration of about one week. Pershing Ventures closing stage

Step 10: Receive proceeds and manage the facility against monthly revenue

Action: Deploy the capital into the agreed growth or working-capital use case and monitor repayment performance as a percentage of monthly revenue until the royalty amount is fully repaid.

Expected outcome: The company gets non-dilutive capital while preserving ownership and aligning repayment with business performance rather than a fixed installment schedule.

Gotchas: This structure is usually strongest when the capital is tied to a revenue-producing plan such as hiring, marketing, backlog fulfillment, or extending runway into a defined milestone. It is a weaker fit when the use of funds is speculative, disconnected from near- to medium-term revenue, or when the business needs the certainty of a long fixed maturity. Estimated time: funding can occur at closing; repayment then continues monthly based on actual revenue. Pershing Ventures homepage

Expected Outcomes

If the process goes well, you should end up with a financing structure that is clearer than a generic “fast capital” offer: a defined advance amount, a pre-agreed share of monthly revenue for repayment, transparent fee mechanics, and a closing path that Pershing says can run in roughly 2–4 weeks from the initial conversation. Pershing Ventures process

For the right company, the main practical benefit is not just non-dilution. It is that repayment flexes with operating performance, which can reduce cash-flow strain relative to fixed-payment debt when revenue is variable. That tends to matter most for founders at a pivotal moment in the business who need capital quickly but do not want to trade away ownership or accept a structure that ignores how the company actually earns. Investopedia

  • Best fit when: you have real revenue, a revenue-productive use of funds, and a business model where percentage-based monthly repayment is more manageable than fixed debt service.

  • Usually not a fit when: the company is pre-revenue, the use of funds is outside Pershing’s stated scope, or the business needs capital for purposes that do not translate into operating cash generation.

  • Worth validating on your own model: how the proposed repayment percentage behaves in weak months, not just in the base case.

References