The Colombian businessman who saved more than $11 million from Silicon Valley Bank
SVB announced that it was bankrupt after notifying a loss of $1.8 billion, and a Colombian businessman managed to save his share.
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)’s collapse after reporting a loss of $1.8 billion dollars, and declaring bankruptcy soon after, put the fear of god into investors. Though the US government announced a guarantee on all deposits, not all sectors are covered by this support.
Troura, a company dedicated to digital signature and identity for banks, was able to rescue the funds it had from SVB. In an interview he gave to Blu Radio, CEO Daniel Bilbao said that the company had managed to obtain financing of $15 million to invest and grow the company. 80% of this was borrowed from SVB.
Bilbao explained how a message ended up saving him from bankruptcy, alerting him that SVB’s shares had fallen by 30%, a situation that made the Colombian react and withdraw $500,000 dollars and put them in JP Morgan.
Daniel Bilbao, colombiano con startup en Silicon Valley, contó en #Blu4p0 cómo salvó 12 millones de dólares un día antes del colapso económico
— BluRadio Colombia (@BluRadioCo) March 14, 2023
Dirige @juamon pic.twitter.com/o6yFWRSxOh
“We worked very hard, we suffered a lot and around 6 in the afternoon, of the 12 million we had, we recovered $11 million”, stated Bilbao . The same businessman added that they made that decision after a conversation on WhatsApp where investors were concerned.
Not everyone was as lucky
Despite Bilbao’s reaction, not everyone enjoyed the same fortune. Alexander Torrenegra, a TV personality investor on Shark Tank, lost much of his savings at Silicon Valley Bank, which was the main bank for two of his companies, personal savings and mortgage.
Silicon Valley Bank was the main bank for two of our companies, my personal savings, and my mortgage. This is how things unfolded for us:
— Alexander Torrenegra (@torrenegra) March 11, 2023
Between 2013 and 2023, all good.
Thursday, 9 AM: in one chat with 200+ tech founders (most in the Bay Area), questions about SVB start to… https://t.co/RAB1XvslPE
“It’s been a week of extreme anxiety and uncertainty for me and many others. If you’ve been affected too, stay strong, stick with it, and hug your loved ones. It will recover,” he wrote on social media.