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For three decades, SVB was the central financing institution for technology and life sciences start-ups in the US. As it collapsed, about $130bn of its deposits and teams of its bankers headed for the comparatively fortress-like balance sheets of larger rivals.
SVB’s new parent, First Citizens, is the closest to providing the same specific brand of venture debt. Its revamped SVB website outlines a familiar commitment to “back the backers” and SVB will co-sponsor the 2024 ski trip alongside IBM Ventures and law firm Fenwick. First Citizens is suing HSBC for $1bn after it hired about 40 SVB bankers, which it claimed was a scheme to strip a competitor of top clients and confidential information. But SVB is a fraction of its pre-crisis size. Deposits have fallen to $38.5bn from a peak of about $189bn, and it has made just $1.8bn of venture debt commitments under its new owners’ control, compared to a loan book of $6.7bn at the end of 2022.
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