Capital for North Carolina operators
from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge.

North Carolina runs one of the most economically diverse and aggressively growing state economies in the country. Charlotte is the second-largest US banking center by assets after New York, anchored by Bank of America's global headquarters, Truist's headquarters (the merger of BB&T and SunTrust), and a deep wealth-management, back-office, and fintech economy. The Research Triangle through Raleigh, Durham, and Cary carries one of the most concentrated biotech and pharmaceutical clusters in the world at Research Triangle Park — GSK, Pfizer, Biogen, Eli Lilly, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Novo Nordisk, and Merck operate major manufacturing or R&D footprints there, alongside SAS Institute, Cisco, IBM, Lenovo, and a deep technology economy. The Triad through Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point carries the legacy of US textiles and tobacco pivoting into advanced manufacturing and aerospace. Asheville and the Blue Ridge carry one of the most-visited tourism economies in the South. The coast through the Outer Banks, Wilmington, and the Cape Fear region carries a deep tourism, hospitality, and shipping economy. Banks, by structure, struggle to keep up with that pace. Goliath was built to.

Our North Carolina pipeline reaches every region of the state. The Charlotte metro brings us the densest deal flow — Uptown, South End, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, Dilworth, Ballantyne, and out through Mecklenburg, Union, and Cabarrus counties. The Research Triangle covers Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Apex, and Morrisville. The Triad covers Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, and Burlington. The mountain region covers Asheville, Hendersonville, and Boone. The coast covers Wilmington, Jacksonville, the Outer Banks, and New Bern. Eastern North Carolina covers Fayetteville and Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg), Greenville, and the broader farming belt.

The bank-lending coverage gap in North Carolina

Despite being home to two of the largest banks in the country, North Carolina has a wider small-business credit gap than people expect. The major banks structurally favor large corporate banking and high-net-worth lending over the $50K to $500K working-capital tickets that North Carolina small businesses actually need. Community-bank consolidation has thinned the lender field outside Charlotte and the Triangle. The result: a Charlotte fintech vendor financing a hiring ramp, a Durham biotech contractor mobilizing for a new GMP build-out, an Asheville restaurant operator riding the off-season, a Fayetteville military-adjacent service business — 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 the North Carolina mix because it accommodates the receivable-heavy biotech contractor, the credit-card-heavy Asheville restaurant, the project-based construction operator, and the cash-heavy mountain hospitality business on the same underwriting bench. We routinely fund operators in their first year as long as deposit patterns support the offer.

The North Carolina industry mix, the way we see it

Banking and financial services anchor our North Carolina book — Bank of America, Truist, and the broader Charlotte financial-services economy. Biotech and pharma anchored by Research Triangle Park. Technology across the Triangle and Charlotte. Advanced manufacturing pivoting from the textile and tobacco legacy through the Triad and across the state. Tourism through Asheville, the Blue Ridge, the Outer Banks, and Wilmington. Healthcare anchored by Duke, UNC, Wake Forest Baptist, and Atrium Health. Construction across the fastest-growing metros. The Fort Liberty military economy. Restaurants and contractors across every metro round out the top of the pipeline.

North Carolina is best understood as four distinct regional economies organized along I-85 and I-40. Below is how the major metros break down in our book.

Charlotte

Charlotte is the dominant single North Carolina market in our book and one of our largest national metros. The financial-services economy anchored by Bank of America's global headquarters, Truist's headquarters, and the broader wealth-management and fintech cluster drives a deep professional-services book. Beyond banking, Charlotte carries a deepening logistics and energy book (Duke Energy is headquartered there), a deep healthcare cluster anchored by Atrium Health and Novant, and a fast-growing technology economy. We fund medical and dental practices, contractor and trade businesses, restaurants and hospitality through South End, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, and Uptown, and the long tail of professional-services businesses across the metro.

Raleigh and the Research Triangle

Raleigh and the broader Research Triangle through Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, and Morrisville is the second-largest North Carolina metro in our book and one of the most credentialed metros in the South. The biotech and pharma economy anchored by Research Triangle Park — GSK, Pfizer, Biogen, FUJIFILM Diosynth, Novo Nordisk, Merck — drives a deep contractor and vendor book. The tech economy anchored by SAS Institute, Cisco, IBM, Lenovo, and a long tail of startups drives a deep professional-services book. We fund biotech and pharma contractors, technology vendors, medical and dental practices, restaurants and hospitality through downtown Raleigh and downtown Durham, and the long tail of vendor businesses orbiting the Triangle.

Greensboro and the Triad

Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point anchor the Piedmont Triad and carry the legacy of US textiles, tobacco, and furniture pivoting into advanced manufacturing and aerospace. The metro economy mixes manufacturing (HondaJet, Boom Supersonic, Toyota Battery Manufacturing in Liberty), logistics riding the I-85 and I-40 corridors, and a deep healthcare cluster anchored by Wake Forest Baptist and Cone Health. We fund manufacturers, logistics operators, contractor and trade businesses, restaurants and hospitality through downtown Greensboro and Winston-Salem, and the long tail of vendor businesses across the Triad.

Asheville

Asheville anchors the western mountains and combines one of the most-visited tourism economies in the South, a deep craft-brewing economy (more breweries per capita than almost any US metro), and a growing healthcare and professional-services book anchored by Mission Health. We fund restaurants and hospitality, breweries and craft-beverage operators, tour and outdoor-services operators, contractor and trade businesses, and the long tail of vendor businesses orbiting the Blue Ridge and the broader Western North Carolina tourism economy.

Wilmington and the Coast

Wilmington anchors the southern coast and combines the Port of Wilmington logistics complex, the broader coastal tourism economy through Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and the Outer Banks (further north), a deepening film and television production economy (EUE/Screen Gems Studios), and a growing healthcare cluster anchored by Novant Health New Hanover Regional. We fund film-production vendors, restaurants and hospitality, contractor and trade businesses, drayage and logistics operators, and the long tail of tourism and service businesses across the southern coast.