Founder Real Talk: Beyond VCs - Alternative Funding Approaches
✨ Founder Real Talk: Alternative Funding Sources & Growing Without VC featuring Fiona Ma
📅 Date & Time:
When: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PT
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
📣 You don’t need to raise venture capital to build a thriving startup.
In this special edition of Founder Real Talk, we dive into alternative funding options—from bank lending, SBA loans, grants, to bond financing and revenue-based models. California State Treasurer Fiona Ma will be the keynote speaker explaining how California is supporting innovation through grant programs.
Learn how founders can scale with smarter, sustainable capital strategies. Join us for a candid conversation with founders, lenders, and ecosystem experts on how to grow your company with non-dilutive capital. We’ll cover:
Navigating SBA loans, bank financing, and non‑dilutive funding
Tapping into state, city, and institutional programs that support small business growth
Building relationships with banks, CDFIs, and government agencies
Structuring your company for financial resilience without giving up equity
Real‑world stories of founders who scaled with alternative funding and smart capital strategies
This is not a typical panel event. It’s a no‑BS, founder‑to‑founder conversation about how real companies scale sustainably—with drinks, snacks, and good people. Come to learn. Stay to connect.
👥 Panel & Format
A lively, founder‑facing panel with rotating experts from finance, government, and lending institutions—expect candid conversation, concrete insights, and a networking‑rich atmosphere.
Panelists:
Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer: Fiona Ma is California’s 34th State Treasurer—the first woman of color and first CPA elected to this office. Since taking office in January 2019, she has overseen state financial operations including $155 billion in assets under management, $20 billion in recent bond issuance, and initiatives supporting affordable housing, small business financing, and local infrastructure financing
Allison Kelly: Allison Kelly is a finance and investment professional with over 25 years of experience working in, and growing, community development finance institutions. As CEO of ICA Fund since 2019, Kelly is deeply committed to strengthening our economy by catalyzing value in local markets. ICA Fund is an Oakland-based not for profit impact investor certified as a CDFI. Under Kelly’s leadership, ICA has more than tripled its net assets, its number of investments, and revenues. Prior to ICA Fund, Allison worked in both the for profit and not for profit sectors in various leadership positions. She is on the Board of the CDFI Coalition and Mal Warwick Donor Digital. Allison lives in Oakland with her husband and two teenagers.
Neda Razavi: Neda Razavi is a seasoned healthcare and diagnostics marketing leader and the CEO of iSono Health, with deep go-to-market experience across diagnostics, med-devices and biopharma. She combines a scientific background in microbiology with product, brand and commercialization expertise from roles at companies including Roche, Natera, Abbott, Medtronic and Baxter
Paul Ratner: VP at Marble Bridge Capital, helping founders grow through short-term lending.
Other Panelists (TBD)
Community Bank Executive — representing mid‑sized institutions offering startup lines of credit and term loans
SBA Lending Officer — specializing in 7(a) and CDC/504 loans and small business support
City Economic Development Official — highlighting local grant programs, loans, and public‑private partnerships
Founder who bootstrapped via loan or revenue-based financing
💡 Topics We’ll Cover
Navigating SBA loans, bank financing, revenue-based lending, and bond issuance
Understanding state‑run bond programs, tax credits, and credit enhancements
How to present strong capital plans to banks versus VC firms
Operating and scaling without giving up equity: strategies that preserve ownership
Public finance tools for infrastructure, housing, and clean‑tech that indirectly support startups
💡 Who Should Attend
Seed‑stage founders and co‑founders exploring non‑dilutive capital
Startup operators and financial leads managing growth
Founders refreshing their capital strategy—beyond just raising VC
Investors, ecosystem builders, and service providers interested in alternative funding models
🎟 Tickets
$10 Early Bird (ends 2 weeks out)
$20 General Admission
$30 Last Call (3 days before)
Snacks, drinks, and networking included.
🧠 Presented by
Sway x Wisdom Partners x Guerilla Ventures
Sponsored by select partners in legal, finance, and operations.
Our Sponsors:
Marble Bridge - helping founders fund their success and achieve financial goals through Collateralized Lending, Venture & Growth Financing, and Cash Flow Management.