$525 Million Later, Forward’s Capacity Hits Nearly $700 Million
July 16, 2026 | Company News
Jul 16, 2026 – This month, Forward closed $525 million in new financing: a $350 million variable funding note facility and a $175 million asset-backed securitization. Together with our inaugural securitization from December 2025, that brings our total committed funding capacity to nearly $700 million.
Here’s what that means, and who it’s for.
How it happened
The two transactions refinance our existing warehouse facility and add fresh liquidity for growth. The variable funding note facility can expand up to $500 million and is backed by four institutional investors, including private credit funds and insurance companies. The securitization, our second, was more than four times oversubscribed and was upsized as a result, drawing 11 institutional investors across its three classes of notes. Guggenheim Securities ran point on both as sole structuring advisor, book runner, and placement agent.
Chris Chiou, our CFO, put it simply: the response from investors reflects confidence in the quality of our portfolio and the strength of our business model. That confidence is now capital we can put to work.
What it means for the small businesses we fund
More capacity means more approvals move forward instead of waiting on a queue. Since 2012, Forward has provided more than $5.2 billion to nearly 97,000 small businesses, and this financing extends that same commitment: real-time underwriting, a fast decision, and funding that shows up when a business actually needs it, not months after the opportunity has passed.
What it means for the communities we serve
Every facility we add is more restaurants, contractors, salons, and shops that get a yes instead of a two-week wait for a no. Small businesses are the backbone of their neighborhoods, and access to capital at the right moment is often the difference between taking on a bigger contract or turning it down. This financing is built to keep that door open.
What it means for our investors and partners
For the institutions who backed these deals, this is a bet on a portfolio and a model that have already proven out at scale. For our ISO partners, it means a more resourced Forward on the other end of every submission: broader capacity, a stronger balance sheet, and a funding platform built for the long term rather than the next quarter.
As Jason Mullins, our President and CEO, noted, this financing builds on more than a decade of expanding access to capital for the entrepreneurs and business owners we serve, and it strengthens our ability to keep doing that reliably.
Read the full press release on PR Newswire for the complete details on both transactions.