Except private financing rounds are incredibly costly long term, and post-IPO you have access to debt financing that is an order of magnitude cheaper. Financing is, after all, just money you pay for money to do things sooner, hopefully to make more money. When you look at it from that angle, you want that money to cost as little as possible. There's a reason revenue is considered the cheapest form of financing, I'd say 6% debt financing is the next cheapest for a large company.
I'm pretty sure debt financing is available to private companies. My wife works in impact investing, they do a number of debt deals and bridge loans to private portfolio companies.
Debt financing is available to everyone, but the question is how much and at what cost? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that the terms are much better for public companies.
Except private financing rounds are incredibly costly long term, and post-IPO you have access to debt financing that is an order of magnitude cheaper. Financing is, after all, just money you pay for money to do things sooner, hopefully to make more money. When you look at it from that angle, you want that money to cost as little as possible. There's a reason revenue is considered the cheapest form of financing, I'd say 6% debt financing is the next cheapest for a large company.