The business management research on company formations has been increasingly popular in recent years. Both academia and practice often note a reluctance of the banking system when it comes to start-up financing, pointing to a (too) cautious approach in financing decisions. The author addresses this accusation and analyzes the range of possibilities that banks have when financing start-up companies. The focus of the work is the development of a phase model for such structured financing, which illustrates the banking operational risks and opportunities from the exploratory phase to the support phase. Using an example, the quantitative aspects are presented in detail.