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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    Live Online with Live Q&A

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Banking and Finance

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, June 3, 2025

  • schedule Time

    1:00 PM E.T.

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will discuss the pros and cons of SAFEs, convertible debt, and priced equity rounds, and how to evaluate the optimal deal structure for startup investment financing rounds. The program will present perspectives from both issuers/owners and investors, as well as look at the current terms and trends for financing early-stage companies.

Faculty

Terrence M. Kerwin
Partner
Fox Rothschild LLP

Mr. Kerwin is a partner in the firm's Corporate Department. He is also a member of the firm’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice Group and a founding member of the Technology Practice Group. He works with clients across a range of industries, and regularly advises startup and growth-stage companies on various matters from formation to exit, including choice of entity, corporate governance, corporate finance, private equity and venture capital transactions, securities, commercial contract preparation and review, employment issues, buy-sell agreements and shareholder disputes, intellectual property protection and transfer, and mergers and acquisitions. He is actively involved in the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technology (PACT) and the Philadelphia Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

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Description

Convertible note financings and similar transactions, including agreements for future equity called SAFEs, have been a popular alternative for startup investment financing due to the difficulty of obtaining a meaningful valuation determination and apparently less onerous documentation, sometimes making it a less costly option.

Despite the popularity of convertible debt deals, early-stage investors frequently require priced equity rounds. Indeed, many investors prefer a priced equity round because it provides the investor with greater certainty regarding valuation and greater rights, privileges, and protections than convertible debt or SAFEs.

Counsel representing emerging growth companies and their investors must carefully consider each financing mechanism's pros and cons to evaluate the preferred structure for the particular deal.

Listen as our authoritative panel of finance and securities attorneys reviews the pros and cons of convertible debt and priced equity rounds for startup investment financing. The panel will discuss current terms and trends for financing early-stage companies and look at the issues from both entrepreneurs' and investors' perspectives.

Outline

I. Current market terms and trends

II. Convertible notes: key terms

III. Priced equity rounds: key terms

IV. Pros and cons of each deal structure

Benefits

The panel will review these and other highly relevant issues:

  • Current terms and trends for financing early-stage companies
  • How to determine the preferred deal structure: convertible debt or priced equity rounds
  • Comparing and contrasting convertible notes vs. equity rounds