Capital for California operators
from San Diego to the Redwood Coast.

California's economy would rank among the top five in the world if it were a country, and it contains more distinct sub-economies than any other state in the union. From the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the largest container complex in the western hemisphere — to the venture-funded software economy in the Bay Area, to the agricultural engine of the Central Valley that produces a quarter of the food eaten in the United States, no single underwriting frame fits the whole state. We built a flexible one because California needed it.

Our California pipeline spans every region. In Southern California we fund operators across the Greater LA basin, Orange County, the Inland Empire of Riverside and San Bernardino, San Diego, and Imperial County. In the Bay Area we cover San Francisco, the Peninsula, Silicon Valley from San Jose through Santa Clara, the East Bay from Oakland through Walnut Creek, and the North Bay through Marin, Sonoma, and Napa. The Central Valley brings us deal flow from Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Visalia, and Bakersfield. The Central Coast adds Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. The far-north and North Coast regions add forestry, agriculture, and tourism operators from Eureka to Redding.

The bank-lending coverage gap in California

California has more bank branches than any other state and yet the small-business credit gap is acute. Community-bank consolidation over the last decade has thinned the lender field, and the surviving regional and national institutions structurally favor commercial real estate, technology venture lending, and high-net-worth lending over the $50K to $500K working-capital tickets that California small businesses actually need. The result: a Fresno packing shed, a Long Beach drayage operator, an Orange County medical group, a Mission District restaurant — strong, deposit-rich businesses — frequently cannot get a timely yes from a bank. We fill that gap.

We are deposit-based underwriters. We read your four most recent months of business bank statements, your ledger, and how you actually operate the company. We do not require two years of tax returns, audited financials, or a 720 FICO. That approach is well-matched to California's mix because it accommodates the cash-heavy taqueria, the platform-heavy DTC apparel brand, the receivable-heavy ag packer, and the project-based contractor on the same underwriting bench. We routinely fund operators in their first year as long as deposit patterns support the offer.

California's industry mix, the way we see it

Technology dominates the headlines but is a smaller slice of our pipeline than people assume — most software companies fund through venture and credit, not through us. Where we play heavily in California is the operating economy underneath: the restaurants, hotels, contractors, retailers, medical practices, ag operators, and logistics businesses that move the state day to day. Entertainment-production support, biotech services in San Diego and the Bay Area, defense and aerospace contractors in San Diego and the Inland Empire, apparel manufacturers in the LA Fashion District, and the long tail of professional services firms in every metro round out the top of the book.

California is best understood as eight or ten regional economies inside one state. Below is how the major metros break down in our book.

Los Angeles

LA is the largest single California market in our book by a wide margin. We fund operators across the entire basin — Downtown, Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, the Westside, the South Bay, the San Fernando Valley, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Long Beach harbor area. The industry mix is unusually broad: entertainment-production support, the LA Fashion District's apparel manufacturers and wholesalers, logistics tied to the San Pedro Bay ports, hospitality, restaurants, healthcare, beauty and wellness, and the contractor base riding LA's permanent build cycle.

San Diego

San Diego's economy is anchored by defense and aerospace contracting, biotech and life sciences in the Torrey Pines and UTC corridors, and a deepening hospitality and tourism economy from the Gaslamp Quarter through Mission Beach and into North County. We fund medical and dental practices in La Jolla and Carmel Valley, restaurants and bars across the Gaslamp and North Park, contractor and trade businesses through the East County, and the cross-border logistics operators tied to the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro crossings.

San Francisco and the Bay Area

Beyond the venture-funded technology layer, the Bay Area delivers a deep operating economy: restaurants and bars from the Mission and SoMa through North Beach and the Marina, professional services in the Financial District, hospitality across the city and through Napa and Sonoma, and the construction backlog that rides the region's permanent housing shortage. We fund operators in San Francisco, the Peninsula, Silicon Valley through San Jose and Santa Clara, the East Bay through Oakland and Walnut Creek, and the North Bay wine country.

Sacramento

Sacramento is California's government, healthcare, and university capital and increasingly a tech and logistics secondary market. The Capitol economy creates steady demand from state-contract-facing service businesses; UC Davis and the Sutter and Kaiser systems anchor healthcare deal flow; and downtown Sacramento, Midtown, and East Sac drive a deepening restaurant and hospitality book. Our Sacramento Valley deal flow extends into Roseville, Folsom, Elk Grove, and Yolo County.

Fresno and the Central Valley

Fresno anchors the southern Central Valley and is the gateway to California's agricultural economy. We fund packing sheds, cold-storage operators, custom harvesters, ag-service contractors, and the trucking fleets that move product from field to port. Outside ag, we fund a steady mix of restaurants, healthcare practices, contractors, and retail operators across Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield, and the broader San Joaquin Valley. Our Central Valley book is one of our fastest-growing California regions.

San Jose and Silicon Valley

Beyond the funded software layer, Silicon Valley's operating economy is one of the densest small-business markets in the country. We fund restaurants, hospitality, contractor and trade businesses, healthcare practices, and the long tail of service businesses that orbit the major tech employers. Tickets in Santa Clara County tend to skew larger than the state median because operating costs and average ticket sizes are higher.

Orange County

Orange County's economy is anchored by tourism around Anaheim and the Disneyland resort, professional services from Irvine through Newport Beach, healthcare across the south county, and a deep contractor and trade base. We fund restaurants and hospitality from Huntington Beach through Laguna and San Clemente, medical and dental practices throughout the county, and the service businesses that ride the county's residential growth.

Inland Empire

Riverside and San Bernardino Counties form one of the largest logistics and distribution markets in the country, with warehouses serving the entire western US. We fund 3PL operators, drayage and trucking companies, equipment-and-fuel-intensive ag service businesses, and the restaurant and retail mix that supports the region's residential boom.