How Pango Financial offers small firms a new way to raise cash

Pango Financial is looking for startups.
The financial-services company is itself a startup. Headed by president Candice Caruso it helps business large and small with financing. The goal, though, Caruso said, is to get more community-level — to provide growth solutions to entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses in Wilmington and beyond.
Its approach is novel.
Through its core product, the DreamSpark plan, Pango provides an alternative funding solution to small- and medium-sized businesses.
“The benefit of the DreamSpark plan is that it enables entrepreneurs and their employees to invest existing retirement savings in the sponsoring business as working capital,” wrote Caruso.
“As the sponsoring business grows so does the plan’s investment,” she explained. “The participants can elect to invest in non-publicly the stock of the business or publicly traded stocks, bonds and mutual funds offered under the plan.”
The company developed a platform for users that walks each client through establishing an account.
Pango received startup investment from the East Atlantic Investment Corporation. The company is led by CEO and chairman William Keenan, along with Caruso. Currently, staff is shared with Pango’s sister company, Convergence Group. But Caruso said the company plans to rev up hiring in the near future.
Caruso said Pango is excited to work in the Wilmington community. Since its launch in April, Caruso has made connections at Wilmington University, the Horn Program at the University of Delaware and The Loft, as well as with other local groups.
“I think [Delaware] is great,” Caruso said. “In order to get the economy back to being sustainable, we really have to get back to — not to sound cliché — but what the U.S. was build upon: innovation, helping the community and learning how to create something out of nothing.”