Working capital financing, line of credit expansion, and relationship-driven banking with Aion.
In 2018, Nayan Chirala was running Silver MetalX at about $5 to 6 million in annual revenue and watching a real opportunity take shape in the U.S. automotive aftermarket. The opportunity was there. The capital to chase it was not.
Manufacturing companies like Silver MetalX live and die by timing. Product has to cross the Atlantic and Pacific before it ever reaches a customer, and that lag creates a capital gap that a growing business cannot simply will away. Chirala needed a financial partner who could close that gap, and his existing bank was not built for the job.
It is nothing but a big bank with little services.
— Nayan Chirala, CEO, Silver MetalX
Chirala had banked with the same large national institution since founding the company. The name was familiar. The service was not. Getting a line of credit approved meant navigating a maze of departments, and there was rarely one person who could just pick up the phone and help.
When Chirala began evaluating financing options, he ran into a problem familiar to a lot of manufacturing leaders: every provider sounds the same on paper.
Everybody will look the same. They will talk the same, and it is just how you would identify and distinguish between them.
— Nayan Chirala
What set Aion apart was not a rate sheet. It was a person. Aion's CEO, Satish Palvai, invited Chirala to Aion's San Jose office and walked him through the realities that growing manufacturers face, then mapped out a plan to scale Chirala's credit limit in step with the business rather than asking him to qualify for a number he did not need yet.
That kind of attention, from the CEO of the company he was about to trust with his working capital, was not something Chirala had experienced before.
Aion proposed starting small and building the relationship first. The two sides agreed on an initial term loan of $150,000, a fraction of what Silver MetalX would eventually need, but enough to establish trust on both sides before expanding.
The $150,000 term loan was just the starting point. As Silver MetalX proved it could put capital to work and pay it back, Aion increased the limit. Then increased it again.
Over the next several years, the credit line grew from $150,000 to $1 million, then to $2 million, and now sits above $3 million, with Chirala already planning the next increase to $4 to 5 million as the business pushes toward $24 to 25 million in revenue.
That staged approach, expanding the limit only as fast as the business could absorb it, gave both sides confidence. Aion was not handing over a number based on a formula. It was responding to what Silver MetalX actually needed, when it needed it.
We are just growing together.
— Nayan Chirala
Capital solved one problem. The Aion platform solved the rest.
Early on, Silver MetalX still relied on its previous bank for one critical function Aion's portal did not yet support: international wire transfers. As Silver MetalX expanded operations into Oman, that gap mattered.
Aion closed it. Wire functionality for Oman arrived first, and when Chirala asked about India next, that capability followed in due course. Today, Silver MetalX runs international transfers, accounting integration, and day-to-day banking through a single connected system instead of juggling two institutions.
Chirala has watched the platform mature from a limited early version into a tool that covers nearly everything he needs.
They kept hearing from the customer. That is what makes it so special. You take that feedback and convert it into a solution.
— Nayan Chirala
Chirala splits his time between the United States, India, and Oman, which means Silver MetalX's banking needs do not stop when one office closes for the night. Aion's team is structured the same way: when Chirala is in India, his contact there is online. When he is back in the U.S., his stateside contact picks up.
For a CEO running a capital-intensive business across three countries, that round-the-clock coverage is not a convenience. It is what makes the rest of the relationship work.
Revenue grew from roughly $5 million to $17 to 18 million, with the business now pushing toward $24 to 25 million.
Credit line expanded from an initial $150,000 term loan to more than $3 million in revolving working capital.
Successfully launched and funded international operations in Oman and India.
Customer service issues typically resolved within 24 hours, a sharp contrast to the multi-department runaround of a large national bank.
Reduced dependence on a previous big-bank relationship that could not move at the speed the business needed.
Ask Chirala to put a number on what that has meant for him personally, and the answer is simple.
Stress-free, to put it very simply. It is all in one. I do not have to deal with multiple people, multiple departments. I just go to one area, customer service support, and internally it spreads to the relevant people. It is like a one-stop shop.
— Nayan Chirala
Asked how he would describe Aion to another manufacturing CEO, Chirala did not reach for a feature list.
They have got my back. When I need capital to grow the business, I know one person I can go to.
— Nayan Chirala
That confidence runs in both directions. As Silver MetalX has expanded, Aion has expanded with it: raising limits in step with revenue, adding features in response to direct feedback, and building out international capability before Chirala had to ask twice.
For a third-party perspective on what that partnership looks like from the inside, Aion's own banking team points to the relationship as one of its longest-running and most collaborative.
Manufacturers often rely on working capital solutions such as a business line of credit to fund inventory purchases, production runs, labor costs, and other operating expenses before customer invoices are collected.
The best line of credit is one that scales with the business. Growing manufacturers need a financing partner that increases credit capacity as revenue, inventory, and production requirements expand, rather than forcing a full reapplication every time the business grows.
As manufacturers grow, they typically need faster decisions, more flexibility, and financing structures that reflect how their business actually operates. Traditional banks often rely on rigid underwriting models that do not account for the realities of a scaling, multi-location, or international operation.
A flexible, receivables-backed line of credit can provide access to capital without requiring major operational changes. This allows a business to keep investing in growth, including international expansion, while maintaining day-to-day operations.
Yes. Aion's credit and banking are bundled by design, so accessing the line of credit requires moving primary business banking to Aion's platform. In practice, clients like Silver MetalX have found that consolidating banking and lending into one system reduces the number of tools and institutions they need to manage.
Manufacturers should look for a partner that understands their business model, offers scalable credit rather than a fixed cap, provides responsive support, and can support both domestic and international operations as the company grows.
If your business is outgrowing what a traditional bank or fintech lender can offer, Aion provides the capital, the platform, and the partnership to help you grow into your next chapter.
