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Katarina Milicevic

Deb Rowe

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This content is intended as general information only and is not to be relied upon as constituting legal, financial or other professional advice. Information presented is believed to be factual and current but we do not guarantee its accuracy and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce or any of its affiliates.

Flexible financing and specialized banking for high-growth technology and life science companies.

Extensive industry knowledge and deal experience, working with teams to support their strategies.

Banking professionals experienced in managing the complex needs of fund finance.

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Leadership and regional teams shaping CIBC Innovation Banking's global presence.

History, values and milestones shaping CIBC Innovation Banking.

We serve innovators and their investors with startup lending, venture debt and specialized fund finance solutions. Backed by 25+ years funding the innovation economy.

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Growth stories

[Pensive yet uplifting piano music]
[CIBC Logo appears in the top left corner. Caption: Ambitions made real.]
A trolley car passes on a San Francisco, CA street.
We see Todd, a caucasian man with dark hair, sitting in a well-lit building. He is speaking to the camera.
[Caption: Todd Rovak, Co-Founder, Carefull]
TODD (IN VOICEOVER): &lt;/strong &gt;Carefull is a FinTech platform that uses AI to look for elder fraud and senior exploitation.&lt;/em &gt;
We see Todd walking with his backpack on a busy San Francisco street. He has a smile.
We cut to Lori Karns, a caucasian blonde woman in a suit, walking on a busy sidewalk. She carries a binder of papers.
LORI (IN VOICEOVER):&lt;/strong &gt; In September of 2023, we were able to secure our series A fundraise, and immediately, we knew we wanted to find a banking partner to help us scale our operations and grow for the long term.&lt;/em &gt;
We cut to Lori in an office interview setup, speaking to the camera.
[Caption: Lori Karns, Head of Finance, Carefull)
We see several CIBC employees sitting around a table with Carefull employees on a video conference.
We cut to Brittany Blanco, a caucasian blonde woman, looking pensive and happy while crossing the street in busy San Francisco.
BRITTANY (IN VOICEOVER): &lt;/strong &gt;Carefull is a great example of our push to do more early stage lending opportunities. &lt;/em &gt;
We see Brittany in an office interview setup.
[CAPTION: Brittany Blanco, Director, CIBC Innovation Banking)
BRITTANY: &lt;/strong &gt;We felt that the Carefull story was very compelling. We love the people there. We really wanted to go all in for them, so it was one that we worked really hard to gain their trust and win the business.&lt;/em &gt;
Todd and Lori greet Brittany in a CIBC lobby. Todd and Brittany shake hands. We cut to Brittany and Todd in a conference room together, smiling.
Todd, Brittany and CIBC employees meet in the conference room, with Carefull-branded presentation materials behind them. The conversation looks jovial and positive.
LORI:&lt;/strong &gt;Todd, Max and I all really enjoyed getting to know CIBC. They really leaned in in their investment in the innovation economy.&lt;/em &gt;
The scene in the conference room continues.
TODD:&lt;/strong &gt; Banking relationships have terms. All the action happens in between the words and in between the terms.&lt;/em &gt;
The conference room scene continues, with Todd laughing.
TODD:&lt;/strong &gt; It&#8217;s the human beings on the other side of the table.
Quick cuts of San Francisco: The bridge, a skyline, a trolley.
LORI:&lt;/strong &gt;In the Bay Area and in the innovation ecosystem, there&#8217;s been a lot of turnover with some larger banking partners.&lt;/em &gt;
Lori is back on camera in her interview.
LORI: &lt;/strong &gt;And the nice thing about CIBC, is they have a very strong balance sheet supported by assets globally.&lt;/em &gt;
The conference room scene continues, as CIBC employees wave to Carefull employees on the video conference.
Brittany smiles in the meeting.
TODD: Beyond the term sheet, we&#8217;ve been really focused on kind of who we want along for the ride with us. &lt;/em &gt;
Lori smiles in the meeting.
TODD:&lt;/strong &gt;And with CIBC, we saw a relationship that understood where we were going and was excited about investing in the things that we needed to build.&lt;/em &gt;
Todd and Brittany shake hands in the CIBC Lobby.
A red animation takes over the frame, and the CIBC Logo animates on.
[CAPTION: CIBC. Ambitions made real®
Legal text includes: 
® The CIBC logo and “Ambitions made real” are registered trademarks of CIBC, used under license. CIBC Innovation Banking is a trademark brand name under which CIBC, its subsidiaries and affiliates provide products and services to clients around the world. Loans are subject to credit approval.]

Supporting Carefull’s ambition to prevent elder fraud

INNOVATION ECONOMY:
ADA
Toronto, ON
Mike and his business partner David, have built a company that specializes in
customer service using AI technology.
As an avid runner, Mike recognizes the importance of energy management in running and building a business.
This is the Innovation Economy series, presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
RUNNING YOUR OWN RACE
Mike Murchison
CEO, Ada Support Inc.
Hey I&#8217;m Mike. I&#8217;m the CEO and co-founder of Ada.
Ada is an AI powered customer service automation platform that enables scaling support without expanding human resources.
The average person in North America will waste 40 days of their lives waiting on hold, and that&#8217;s a huge motivator behind the work we do at Ada, because that is a shocking waste of time.
David and I were performing customer service as agents ourselves for almost a year.
It was a very gradual process through which we went from simply serving as agents ourselves, as members of these teams, to augmenting ourselves with software that made our lives more productive, to actually deploying fully autonomous AI systems that our fellow colleagues thought were us.
Every year around the world, globally, businesses will invest $500 billion in human customer service agent labour.
$500B
GLOBALLY
INCLUDING CUSTOMER SERVICE LABOUR
If you can make it easier for businesses to offer a great experience at scale with their customers for way less money, they&#8217;re going to talk to their customers more.
I think the net effect of that is that you and I are going to go from having this really terrible customer service experience where we wait on hold a long time to an experience where businesses actually want to engage with you, and they&#8217;re very motivated to give you an incredible experience.
I think from the early days of us working together, CIBC has been an important
capital partner to Ada.
and they&#8217;ve been an important advisory partner to Ada.
One of the reasons I love running is I continue to find new parallels between running and building Ada.
I used to run in a way where I would literally sprint up the hills, and then I went from running marathons to running ultramarathons, and it turns out that sprinting up a hill when there are a lot of them is not a sustainable strategy.
And so, I&#8217;ve learned a lot about my relationship with my own energy as we pursue a very ambitious vision and fundamentally changing the nature between how a business communicates with its customers at scale.
Now, I operate in a way where I&#8217;m not always sprinting up those hills.
Be sure to catch every episode of our Innovation Economy series.
Visit cibc.com/InnovationBanking and click on the ‘Insights’ link.

Running your own race

[Title Name: Announcer.]
[Title Name: Leigh Silver &#8211; CEO, Keeps Corp &amp; Dynatron Software.]
[Music plays.]
[A man swings a golf club and hits the ball down the fairway. CIBC logo. CIBC Innovation Banking. Innovation Economy: Dynatron. Las Vegas, NV.]
[A number of scenes are shown: a man works on his computer; the Dynatron logo; a toy robot; a number of toy cars are on a shelf; a number of golf balls are displayed on a window ledge, along with club socks and a miniature golf cart; an award is displayed; Leigh sits and works on his laptop; Leigh and a friend ride in a golf cart; Leigh plays golf; a Welcome sign on a wall; the large CIBC logo sign situated outside of the CIBC tower.]
&gt;&gt; Announcer: Dynatron is a Las Vegas based software as a service company in its growth phase, and their CEO, Leigh, is looking to keep up their growth momentum so that revenue and margins can keep landing on the green. This is the Innovation Economy series presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
[Making Opportunit-tees.]
[Leigh sits in an office and speaks to the camera.]
&gt;&gt; Leigh Silver: My name is Leigh Silver and I am the CEO of Keeps Corporation and Dynatron Software.
[A computer monitor shows an animation of a number of gears on top of each other. The camera moves upwards and shows a number of lines branching out with various items shown at the end of each: a squiggly line; a line graph; a clock; a lightbulb; a circle and a bar graph. The camera continues to move upward and turns into a road that the viewer is quickly moved along beside graphics of buildings. The road then turns into a line graph that is superimposed over a bar graph. The line continues on and the scene changes to an animation of a man in a garage, working on elevated cars. The view then moves back to show the entire building that has a garage where the man works on the right side.]
[A number of scenes are shown: a picture of a real building with a service area on the right; an SUV drives into the garage area; a number of cars are being worked on; a long view of a city skyline with mountains in the background.]
&gt;&gt; Announcer: Dynatron is a suite of software solutions in the automotive industry. Through its unique algorithms, Dynatron can gather complex groups of information and decipher the data to simplify and provide feedback to dealerships to identify revenue
and growth opportunities, to create a plan of action for the business.
[A number of scenes are shown: the inside of a garage; a man works on a computer in his office; another man types information into his computer situated in the garage; a man works on the under carriage of an elevated car.]
&gt;&gt; Leigh Silver: Dynatron is unique in that, we&#8217;re able to take transactional information about what&#8217;s being fixed on the vehicles, from every different accounting system, standardize it, and provide it back to our customers in a way that really nobody else can do.
[A number of scenes are shown: Leigh works on his computer in his office; a view of a golf course, with Leigh teeing off; a number of photographs are shown on a shelf; a close up of a photo of Leigh with his father and two other men; a number of socket wrenches in a holder; a board with numbers posted that holds car keys and fobs; a man writes on a tablet while sitting in a car; another man stands beside an open engine and writes on a tablet.]
One of the similarities between business and golf is that there&#8217;s almost a limitless level
of potential improvement available. I got into business because my father was in business.
He has been in the automotive technology industry for 40 plus years now, providing software solutions for automotive dealers in the US and Canada.
[A number of scenes are shown: Leigh and another man drive in a golf cart; the Dynatron logo is embroidered on a shirt; Leigh and the man play golf; Leigh chips a shot and gets a hole in one.]
&gt;&gt; Announcer: The Silvers were able to grow their companies organically with the help of private equity firms. And now, they are looking to grow even more. Bringing on strategic partners at the right time, can help the company hit a hole in one.
[The large CIBC logo sign outside of the CIBC tower is shown.]
&gt;&gt; Leigh Silver: It&#8217;s very exciting being in a growth phase of a business. CIBC got involved with our company in 2020.
[A computer monitor is open with an animation on it, consisting of 3 boxes. The left box has two circles on it, the middle has a large target and the right side has a dot. An animation of a man pouring coffee into a cup stands behind the middle box. Then a man pops up behind the left box using a electric wrench to take the lug nuts off a wheel. Behind the right hand box a laptop is shown.]
We wanted to have a banking partner that would help us accelerate our growth.
[The monitor then shows a graphic of a man in a business suit on the left. To the right are graphics of cheques. To the right is a circle graph that is titled: “Sales Revenue”. Below are a number of different graphs with data on them. The animation then changes to show a mechanic working on a computer in the garage. This then changes to numerous graphs portraying various types of graphs and data.]
We&#8217;re a SaaS based business who generates a lot of recurring revenues.
[A number of scenes are shown: a computer monitor shows a number of different graphs and gages on the monitor; a woman hands over her car fob; Leigh talks to the camera in his office; Leigh and another man walk on a golf course and then drive their golf cart.]
We don&#8217;t have a ton of assets, and to be able to have a partner who can allow us to leverage our current business for lending power is unique. So, in our most recent transaction, with regards to the management team, our current investors and our new investors, we were able to set up a triple win with the help of CIBC. We were able to allow folks to take chips off the table, other folks were able to put chips on the table.
[A number of scenes are shown: a CIBC logo on a badge; Leigh and his golf partner shake hands.]
CIBC brought additional value because we were able to evaluate potential acquisitions that we wouldn&#8217;t have necessarily been able to do otherwise. And so it gave us the flexibility to be able to look at new strategic opportunities.
[A tablet shows a man jogging and to the right a mobile phone shows a CIBC website. The website indicates chess pieces and below: “Insights. Designed for curious minds”. At the bottom it indicates: CIBC Innovation Banking Videos.]
&gt;&gt; Announcer: Be sure to catch every episode of our Innovation Economy series.
[cibc.com/InnovationBanking]
[A CIBC Innovation Banking website is shown. At the top are tabs: “Home; Our Approach; Unicorn Fuel; Team; Portfolio; Insights; Contact Us”. Below is the title: “You’re not the average business. We’re not your average bank”. To the right is an origami representation of a unicorn. The cursor then clicks on the Insights tab which takes us to a page titled: “Insights. Designed for curious minds”. To the right are two chess pieces: a bishop and a unicorn.]
Visit cibc.com/InnovationBanking, and click on the ‘Insights’ link.
[CIBC logo. CIBC Innovation Banking. The CIBC Logo is a trademark of CIBC.]

Making Opportuni-tees

Innovation Banking podcast

Scaling Your Business by Identifying Pain Point Intersections with Marcos Torres of Huntress

<time datetime="PT00H00M00S">[0:00-0:27]</time>
VTS is a New York based SaaS giant that helps real estate brokers, landlords, and their tenants get the most out of their office buildings with smart technology.
But when COVID-19 hit hard, co-founder Nick Romito found his life-long obsession with boxing helped ensure his company didn’t suffer a knock-out punch.
I’m Michael Hainsworth and this is The Innovation Economy Series. Presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
<time datetime="PT00H00M33S">[0:33-0:37]</time>
Hello, my name is Nick Romito and I am the co-founder and CEO of VTS.
<time datetime="PT00H00M38S">[0:38-0:49]</time>
VTS software helps real estate brokers, landlords, and their tenants get the most out of their office buildings with smart apps that help determine rental rates, availability, and even control the lights and locks.
<time datetime="PT00H00M50S">[0:50-0:58]</time>
I started boxing at a very young age. My father was a professional fighter, golden glove champion, marine champion.
I had no choice but to start boxing.
<time datetime="PT00H00M58S">[0:58-1:00]</time>
How does that help you in an environment like this?
<time datetime="PT00H01M00S">[1:00-1:11]</time>
So I think most people think about boxing, think about physical toughness when in reality, it’s actually all about mental toughness. Pushing yourself and your limits and being comfortable in the uncomfortable which running a business is really important.
<time datetime="PT00H01M12S">[1:12-1:16]</time>
Double it up. Double. There you go. One two.
<time datetime="PT00H01M17S">[1:17-1:22]</time>
At the height of COVID, Nick was going 12 rounds with lawyers, negotiating another acquisition.
<time datetime="PT00H01M23S">[1:23-2:03]</time>
The punch in the face for us, when deciding growth through acquisition was going to be important was really how hard it is to integrate people.
Technology is pretty simple, right. It’s math, it’s architecture, it’s programming.
People are far more complicated and so really understanding the cultural differences and how those things are going to work together has been the hardest part.
Now luckily we’ve done it a few times and we’ve got a playbook that works. And we’re also very good at identifying great people.
We are a values driven culture. We ask you a series of questions about your life, how you think about the office, work, what you care about. If those questions align to our core values, that person is usually pretty successful here.
<time datetime="PT00H02M04S">[2:04-2:21]</time>
Nick is clearly a heavy weight.
An expanded product line, an acquisition, and in 2022, a knock-out deal.
A $125 million equity round led by CBRE and $150 million debt facility led by CIBC Innovation Banking.
<time datetime="PT00H02M22S">[2:22-2:40]</time>
When someone like a CBRE sees someone like CIBC Innovation Banking, that gives them a ton of confidence. Capitals not super hard to get when you are a great company.
But the partner is. It is hard to find truly great partners who are going to let you run your business the way you want to, who are bought into your vision, put the founders first.
CIBC Innovation Banking does that.
<time datetime="PT00H02M41S">[2:41-2:44]</time>
So what does the future of commercial real estate look like to Nick Romito?
<time datetime="PT00H02M45S">[2:45-2:53]</time>
I think we’re going to see pretty much every building, every company making technology a critical component of how they can pull back to the office and operate those offices.
<time datetime="PT00H02M54S">[2:54-2:55]</time>
And run it all over this?
<time datetime="PT00H02M55S">[2:55-2:57]</time>
All on their phone, just like every other part of your life, right?
<time datetime="PT00H02M58S">[2:58-3:02]</time>
There you go. One two. There you go.
<time datetime="PT00H03M04S">[3:04-3:12]</time>
Be sure to catch every episode of our Innovation Economy series.
Visit cibc.com/InnovationBanking and click the insights link.

Growth is a Team Sport

<time datetime="PT00H00M00S">[0:00-0:27]</time>
If you ever wanted to buy a car, Point Predictive software probably helped get you behind the wheel.
San Diego-based CEO Tim Grace loves cars and gadgets.
Whether it be the first all-electric high-end vehicle or the latest smartphone, he knows the power of being an early adopter.
Why? Because it makes him a better entrepreneur.
I’m Michael Hainsworth and this is The Innovation Economy Series. Presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
<time datetime="PT00H00M31S">[0:31-0:35]</time>
Hello, I&#8217;m Tim Grace. I&#8217;m the CEO and co-founder of Point Predictive.
<time datetime="PT00H00M36S">[0:36-0:45]</time>
If you ever wanted to buy a car like Tim’s — or any other one for that matter —there’s a good chance his software helped the bank decide whether or not to put you behind the wheel.
<time datetime="PT00H00M46S">[0:46-1:05]</time>
Point Predictive is a company that really enables lenders to decipher between whether or not the information on the application is falsified. It enables a more frictionless or less complicated loan process.
They don&#8217;t have to produce a paycheck stub, they don&#8217;t have to produce a proof of employment.
<time datetime="PT00H01M06S">[1:06-1:11]</time>
Don’t let the electric luxury car and the suit fool you. This long-time Burning Man attendee built this company from the ground up.
<time datetime="PT00H01M12S">[1:12-1:31]</time>
I&#8217;m a very early-stage CEO. So from two guys in a garage to about 300 people.
In an early stage company where you don&#8217;t have any customers, it doesn&#8217;t matter if you have a pipeline of a hundred customers.
What you really need is one, or you need two, just to be real true partners with you.
<time datetime="PT00H01M33S">[1:33-1:37]</time>
So is there an analogy between being a car guy and being a startup guy?
<time datetime="PT00H01M37S">[1:37-1:58]</time>
You could think of the cliché things of, you know, I like to drive fast, so I want to be in a fast-moving startup company.
But I think that it&#8217;s more about being someone who is willing to try new things.
I like to describe myself as a gadget guy, so there&#8217;s not a lot of gadgets that I don&#8217;t like.
<time datetime="PT00H01M59S">[1:59-2:00]</time>
This one included, clearly.
<time datetime="PT00H02M00S">[2:00-2:01]</time>
This one included.
<time datetime="PT00H02M01S">[2:01-2:04]</time>
What is it about the, the early adopter that that&#8217;s in you?
<time datetime="PT00H02M05S">[2:05-2:39]</time>
I think it&#8217;s about the innovation. It&#8217;s that that makes us successful. We may not have done it before. We may not know how to approach it. We get together in a room, we figure it out and we actually do it. And so that&#8217;s the difference between a large company and a small company like ours.
What I think the early adopter in me has taught me is that it&#8217;s a rocky road sometimes.
When you early adopt a new technology, it&#8217;s not always seamless.
I learned the patience from being an early adopter that really translates over being an innovator in the financial technology world.
<time datetime="PT00H02M41S">[2:41-2:46]</time>
When it came time for Point Predictive to accelerate growth, Tim’s investor coaxed him into debt financing.
<time datetime="PT00H02M47S">[2:47-3:09]</time>
They said, this is a company that has zero debt on the books, and you probably should put some debt financing on your books.
We looked at all the players, all the top American lenders, and CIBC came out on top. They were easiest, they had the best terms, and they were really nice to talk to.
My investor was over the moon. They said the terms were amazing.
<time datetime="PT00H03M10S">[3:10-3:11]</time>
Ok, punch it, Chewie!
<time datetime="PT00H03M15S">[3:15-3:24]</time>
Be sure to catch every episode of our Innovation Economy series.
Visit cibc.com/InnovationBanking and click the insights link.

Innovation Fuels Growth

Work/Life Harmony

<time datetime="PT00H00M00S">[0:00-0:27]</time>
Azalea health is an Atlanta-based software platform that integrates electronic health records with telehealth systems and mobile apps for small communities across the United States.
But for CEO Baha Zeidan, paying it forward is what makes for a healthy company on the acquisition trail – and a healthier entrepreneurial community, too.
I’m Michael Hainsworth and this is The Innovation Economy Series. Presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
<time datetime="PT00H00M32S">[0:32-0:35]</time>
Hello, my name is Baha Zeidan. I’m the CEO of Azalea Health.
<time datetime="PT00H00M36S">[0:36-0:45]</time>
The avid hiker built a software platform that integrates electronic health records with telehealth systems and mobile apps, particularly in small communities.
<time datetime="PT00H00M46S">[0:46-0:53]</time>
We felt they are the most underserved population of providers who need technology and need adoption of cloud solutions.
<time datetime="PT00H00M54S">[0:54-1:04]</time>
It’s been an uphill climb at times for Baha over the past 14 years, but the effort has paid off.
Fueled by acquisitions, Azalea continues to grow organically.
<time datetime="PT00H01M05S">[1:05-1:08]</time>
So you sort of see hiking as a metaphor for being a startup.
<time datetime="PT00H01M08S">[1:08-1:37]</time>
If you think about a startup or a growth company, there are a lot of challenges in your way, and a lot of times you have ups and downs – hopefully more ups than downs.
But at the end, it&#8217;s very rewarding when you reach your destination.
Azalea’s growth strategy is to focus mainly on organic growth.
It&#8217;s a healthy way to grow our topline by continuously improving our platform and getting customers to adopt our platform and help them solve their business needs.
<time datetime="PT00H01M38S">[1:38-1:41]</time>
You said organic growth is a healthy way to grow. Did you just give me a dad joke?
<time datetime="PT00H01M43S">[1:43-1:43]</time>
I did!
<time datetime="PT00H01M44S">[1:44-1:49]</time>
Baha admits integrating the right team into the organization is no joke when it comes to any acquisition.
<time datetime="PT00H01M50S">[1:50-2:01]</time>
We determine if a team member is a good fit for our culture by assessing their behavior against our core values: aggressive, humble, and innovative.
<time datetime="PT00H02M02S">[2:02-2:16]</time>
When Baha was looking to finance his growth without shaving off another piece of his company, he used those same core values to find a solution.
CIBC Innovation Banking provided the financing and growth capital that funded two of Azalea’s recent acquisitions.
<time datetime="PT00H02M17S">[2:17-2:38]</time>
CIBC Innovation Banking has been a strong partner of Azalea.
We are currently looking at some target acquisitions and CIBC is a great partner in funding those acquisitions.
They&#8217;ve been great partners in allowing us to understand the landscape of what other technology companies look for and need.
<time datetime="PT00H02M39S">[2:39-2:51]</time>
Every founder needs guidance when taking their company to the next level, and he’s getting it from CIBC Innovation Banking – and giving it back to the local tech community at TER, the Technology Executive Roundtable in Atlanta.
<time datetime="PT00H02M52S">[2:52-3:10]</time>
Entrepreneurs and leaders do good by paying it forward. The return on investment is just immeasurable.
It’s so rewarding to see team members, executives, people that you are influencing on a day-to-day basis that are moving forward and creating great things in their life.
<time datetime="PT00H03M11S">[3:11-3:12]</time>
A rising tide lifts all boats.
<time datetime="PT00H03M13S">[3:13-3:15] </time>
Absolutely. What a great way to put it.
<time datetime="PT00H03M18S">[3:18-3:26] </time>
Be sure to catch every episode of our Innovation Economy series.
Visit cibc.com/innovation banking and click the Insights link.

Paying it Forward

<time datetime="PT00H00M00S">[0:00-0:27]</time>
Bloomerang is a donor management software company in Indianapolis, Indiana. Co-founder Ross Hendrickson faced the same question every founder must address. When is it best to step aside and let a more seasoned CEO take the reins?
For Ross, the solution to the Founder’s Dilemma was simple. Surround himself with smart people.
I’m Michael Hainsworth and this is The Innovation Economy Series. Presented by CIBC Innovation Banking.
<time datetime="PT00H00M34S">[0:34-0:37]</time>
Hi, my name is Ross Hendrickson, I’m the co-founder of Bloomerang.
<time datetime="PT00H00M37S">[0:37-0:53]</time>
Bloomerang’s software as a service helps organizations take the friction out of fundraising by accepting online donations.
Turning those donations into recurring contributors for thousands of organizations across North America helps raise over $8 billion dollars a year in donations.
<time datetime="PT00H00M53S">[0:53-0:55]</time>
Isn’t Bloomerang also a flower?
<time datetime="PT00H00M55S">[0:55-1:13]</time>
Yeah.
So, we really wanted bloom as the name of the company. Couldn’t figure out how to make the SEO on that work.
But we realized if we put together two words, we could get the dot com and we could, you know, have a flower that keeps, you know, blooming year and year which is really what donor retention is all about. So that’s kind of how the name came together.
<time datetime="PT00H01M14S">[1:14-1:17]</time>
This was voted one of the best places to work in all of Indiana.
<time datetime="PT00H01M17S">[1:17-1:17]</time>
Yeah.
<time datetime="PT00H01M18S">[1:18-1:18]</time>
Why
<time datetime="PT00H01M18S">[1:18-1:30]</time>
Yeah, it’s super exciting.
I mean, I think it really has to do with the culture and we’re really benefited by the market we serve. Right, so the fact that we serve these non-profit customers, it’s really invigorating for people that want to do good in the world.
Not just do good for themselves.
<time datetime="PT00H01M30S">[1:30-1:37]</time>
After running the company since 2012, Hendrickson faced a dilemma that all start-up companies must address.
<time datetime="PT00H01M37S">[1:37-1:45]</time>
The Founder’s Dilemma is when you have an entrepreneur that founds a company, but generally has a hard time taking that company into the growth stage.
<time datetime="PT00H01M45S">[1:45-1:50]</time>
Hendrickson wanted to take Bloomerang to the next level, but he knew he couldn’t do it on his own.
<time datetime="PT00H01M51S">[1:51-1:52]</time>
I 100% knew I couldn’t do it on my own.
<time datetime="PT00H01M53S">[1:53-1:59]</time>
So in 2022, the man who helped the company from start-up to growth stage, set the stage for his own exit.
<time datetime="PT00H02M00S">[2:00-2:06]</time>
I like to consider myself to be like a Renaissance person. I like to play guitar, I play drums, so music just kind of permeates my life.
<time datetime="PT00H02M07S">[2:07-2:10]</time>
Is there a connection between music and your day job?
<time datetime="PT00H02M10S">[2:10-2:18]</time>
It’s a little bit like a start-up where he’s got to have the right people together at the right time.
And you’ve got to be playing the music people like. It’s very much like product-market fit.
<time datetime="PT00H02M19S">[2:19-2:26]</time>
Before Hendrickson could exit the company, he had to build a team capable of carrying on without him, and that required help.
<time datetime="PT00H02M26S">[2:26-2:41]</time>
We didn’t even have a CFO. That was something that I kind of took on as being, you know, head of operations, finance and CEO.
So, super helpful to start thinking about you know, how we could bring in some real financial talent to think about how we can leverage that asset to grow the business.
<time datetime="PT00H02M42S">[2:42-2:51]</time>
CIBC Innovation Banking provided Bloomerang with $45 million in debt financing to accelerate its growth. But it was about more than just the money.
<time datetime="PT00H02M52S">[2:52-3:18]</time>
I think there is a lot of anxiety related to the right way to actually go and acquire a company.
It’s something we hadn’t done in the past and I think that’s one of the benefits of partnering with different growth equity-based companies, where you can pull on resources and networks to lend areas of expertise that, you know, we didn’t have here at the company.
CIBC Innovation Banking brought very knowledgeable finance professionals and again, plugging us into a network of other people.
<time datetime="PT00H03M18S">[3:18-3:24]</time>
So, whether a start-up CEO leaves or stays, the secret to a successful solution to the Founder’s Dilemma?
<time datetime="PT00H03M25S">[3:25-3:37]</time>
Critical to hire smart people, have a strong team around you, both on the leadership team as well as the employees.
And a group of people that’s just super committed to the mission and also committed to learning and just developing their skills and talents.
<time datetime="PT00H03M39S">[3:39-3:47]</time>
Be sure to catch every episode of our innovation economy series.
Visit CIBC dot com slash innovation banking and click the insights link.

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