Kyberlight, LLC

The Opportunity

When the owner of Kyberlight, LLC, Shon Whitney, was asked by his full-time employer to sell his business, his son Sam and Sam’s colleague, Jaden, jumped at the opportunity to buy the company.

Kyberlight, LLC is an online retail company specializing in light saber replicas that can be mixed and matched with a variety of accessories, such as pommels, hilts and colors. Shon started the business via a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2016, when he couldn’t find a high-quality lightsaber for his son.

By acquiring the business, Sam Whitney would be able to keep the business in the family while at the same time improving its profit margins.

The Challenge

Despite the family connection and Sam’s intimate familiarity with Kyberlight LLC., Sam and Jaden struggled to find financing for the business acquisition. Other lenders denied financing because Kyberlight is an e-commerce business and Sam and Jaden didn’t have direct online retailing experience.

Then a colleague familiar with Celtic’s flexible financing solutions recommended the Bank to Sam and Jaden. While other lenders are wary of financing ecommerce businesses, Celtic isn’t. Celtic also found Sam’s experience helping his father start Kyberlight, LLC to be applicable experience.

These facts combined with Sam and Jaden’s business plan of increasing revenue by outsourcing packaging and shipping, enabled Celtic Bank to extend an SBA 7(a) loan to Kyberlight.

The Solution

After financing was extended, Sam and Jaden immediately outsourced Kyberlight’s packing and shipping to a fulfillment warehouse. This has lowered both the cost and time needed to maintain day-to-day operations of Kyberlight. With this added time, they have been able to attend more conferences and extend Kyberlight’s marketing efforts. They are on track to meet their first-year revenue goals.