Lines of Credit for New Businesses?

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March 10, 2025

by a searcher from The University of Chicago - Booth School of Business in Chicago, IL, USA

This is a specific ask, but does anyone know of lenders who will issue small, lines of credit to new businesses? $100-250k? And by new businesses I specifically mean, legacy businesses that we've acquired via Asset Sale, so they feel like newly formed entities to banks/lenders given the newness of their EIN numbers.

This is something we've run into with a few of our acquisitions, we close a deal on a legacy, cash flowing businesses, I'd like to get a small line of credit in place, purely just to have it if we need it, and most lenders are unwilling to even consider lending unless the business has 2+ years of operating history. Even when we tell them we have decades of financials, it's still too tough of a task.

Ideally these would be non PG'ed lines, but we'd even be open to PGs if we got the right sizing/terms on the loans. It feels like it should be a relatively straightforward ask, but a lot of banks seem resistant to underwrite it. If anyone has any recs, that would be appreciated.


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Reply by a searcher
from Columbia University in New York, NY, USA
^redacted‌ We use a bank called Highbeam (https://www.highbeam.co) that issued a line of credit right as we started working with them. We had existed for a year and a half at the time, but still, it felt like a fast enough process that it could be a match.
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Reply by a searcher
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, NY, USA
Hey, I have a few partners who would entertain situations like this. They aren't my favorite people to work with but they'll do lines for new businesses if the business and owners meet their underwriting requirements. Feel free to reach out at redacted if you'd like to discuss further.
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