VC Alternative Startup Financing Options

Back in the Pardot days, we had exactly one alternative financing option to venture capital: bank venture debt. While that was a great option, and we maxed out our line, being a bootstrapped startup we didn’t qualify for venture debt until we had millions of recurring revenue — an extremely high bar.

Today, there are a number of interesting alternative funding sources that are very different from venture capital, and available for startups at much earlier stages. The big driver here is entrepreneurs want to maintain optionality and/or don’t have a business that fits traditional venture capital (e.g. too small a market). Let’s take a look at a few providers:

• Lighter Capital – Revenue financing for subscription businesses, Lighter Capital typically collects 2-8% of monthly revenue to pay back the loan until some cap is reached (e.g. 2x the loan). This model is better for a lower payout over time but requires making payments immediately.
• Earnest Capital – A profit-sharing model where the more profit shared, the lower the equity percentage in the event of an exit with an overall higher target return (e.g. 4x the investment). Profit is defined as any salaries above some modest amount for founders as well as standard distributions/dividends. This model is better for using cash flow to grow in the near-term (payments are only required if profit is distributed) but more expensive in the long term if everything works out.
• Indie.vc – A hybrid that can be equity or revenue financing where it’s equity if a traditional round of funding is raised but defaults to a revenue based financing model after 12-36 months where 3-7% of revenue is paid monthly until a target return is met (e.g. 3x the investment). This model provides the most direct optionality benefits but could be more expensive depending on the path taken by the entrepreneur.

Ultimately, these are all great market developments for entrepreneurs as historical venture capital was only suited to a microscopic percentage of startups striving for billion dollar outcomes. More providers serving a larger variety of startups will help grow the number of entrepreneurs that raise money, and, hopefully, help them achieve a greater level of success.