Case Study: OnShore Technology Group
Chicago-based tech-enabled consulting firm defied predictions to land on the Inc. 5000 list two years in a row.
Valarie King-Bailey, MBA
CEO, OnShore Technology Group
May 2020 FastPath Graduate
“Sometimes if you’re like me, you’re running your business every single day, you don’t get a chance to stop and think and smell the roses as such, but Founders really made me think about OnShore strategically as a business. Where did I want to go? Where did I want to take the business? And that was what was so important to me.”
THE PROBLEM
OnShore Technology Group was growing organically. They had not taken on any debt financing other than a bank loan for $100k, and that was 15 years ago. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, life sciences companies’ activities began to explode. Many of OnShore’s clients, including Moderna, were trying to bring new COVID therapies to market. In order for them to do that they needed validation, which is what OnShore does.
When social distancing began at the beginning of the pandemic, many life science companies began reaching out to OnShore because their system is an automated, paperless platform that would allow them to continue validation while maintaining their distance from internal colleagues. Companies were in a race against time to bring new COVID therapies to market, to get their systems validated, to get them online so that they could move their products forward.
THE SOLUTION
The pandemic caused a tremendous shift in OnShore’s business. The leadership team needed guidance and growth capital to keep up with the pace. OnShore’s CEO, Valarie King-Bailey, MBA, enrolled the company in Founders First CDC’s Bootcamp business accelerator program followed by FastPath. This led to OnShore securing a $500,000 revenue-based financing investment. Revenue-based financing was ideal as the payments were increased during stronger revenue months, helping the company pay down the debt faster as it was growing.
THE END RESULT
Since working with Founders First CDC and Founders First Capital Partners, OnShore made the Inc. 5,000 list for the first time in 2021 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America. The company landed on the list for a second time in 2022. Valarie King-Bailey was also named to Inc.’s list of Female Founders 100 – 2022’s Most Dynamic Women in Business.
90% growth in revenue within 12 months
Added 5 new teams members
Launched proprietary SaaS platform for FDA compliance
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU
Revenue-based financing is a good fit if your tech-enabled consulting business meets the following:
- Profitable, break-even or on the clear path to profitability
- Recurring or predictable revenues or repeatable customer contracts
- Seeking $50,000 to $2 million in growth capital
ABOUT THE COMPANY
OnShore Technology Group was established in 2004 as a global Independent validation and verification (IV&V) firm specializing in the development and delivery of innovative products and services that power lean validation processes. They pioneered the concept, principles and best practices of lean validation.
The company’s lean methodologies are powered by ValidationMaster, the FIRST lean Enterprise Validation Management and Quality system designed to automate manual IV&V processes and drive operational efficiencies that save clients both time and money.
Clients leverage OTG’s solution (ValidationMaster™) to establish and sustain corporate validation programs mandated by global regulators including the U.S. FDA. One of their clients was Moderna, one of the first providers of the COVID-19 vaccine.
