Seb Johnson 📊’s Post

Alternate Startup Funding Options Every Founder Should Know There are many ways for startups to raise capital and sometimes, the most common methods (like equity investment) aren’t always the best fit. If you’re exploring alternative funding, here are three options worth considering 👇 📜 Promissory Notes Promissory notes are often used for loans from family and friends. Key points to know: Note Summary → Defines borrower/lender, loan amount, date, and interest rate. Terms of Repayment → Lays out how repayment will happen. Late Fee Clause → Adds penalties (fixed $100, or % like 1% per week). Prepayment Option → Lets startups repay early, which may appeal to later investors. Flexibility → Family/friend loans often include grace periods for defaults. 📈 Revenue-Based Funding In this model, startups pay back investors as a % of top-line revenue (typically 1–3%). Why it works: Aligns investor + founder goals: grow sales. Payback adjusts with business cycles (unlike fixed loan payments). Keeps early investors off the cap table, making it cleaner for future rounds. Ends once the predetermined payback is reached. Best for startups with recurring revenue + healthy margins. 💼 Salary-Based Funding Here, payback is tied to the founder’s compensation (salary or profit). How it works: Investors receive an agreed % of compensation until a payback cap is reached. Different from revenue-based funding → here, payout is based on salaries, not revenue. Can be structured as cash repayment or converted into equity. Keeps early investors off the cap table, avoiding dilution. Works well for early raises when future funding needs are unclear. 📌 Takeaway: Alternative funding options like promissory notes, revenue-based funding, and salary-based funding give founders flexibility, reduce dilution, and keep cap tables clean-all while aligning investor and founder incentives. At CapBridgeAI, we help startups evaluate funding strategies, structure terms, and prepare investor-ready documentation to raise smarter. #CapBridgeAI #StartupFunding #Fundraising #AlternativeFunding #InvestorReadiness #VentureCapital #SeedStage #SeriesA

JUST IN: The UK now has a WHOPPING 28 Fintech Unicorns! The UK has long been home to a thriving Fintech ecosystem: 🚀 $5.1bn invested across 400+ deals in 2024 🚀 More funding than France, Germany, China, India, Brazil and Canada combined 🤯 On top of that the UK has created 28 Fintech unicorns. Of these: 🔥 9 are valued at over $5bn 🔥 11 are valued at over $2bn (but below $5bn) 🔥 8 are valued at over $1bn (but below $2bn) Of course Revolut takes the crown with a (rumoured) latest valuation of $60bn. But interestingly there are plenty of other Fintechs which could become unicorns in the next year (Cleo, Allica Bank). The UK continues to be one of the greatest places in the world to be build a fintech. GREAT analysis from Olek Skwarczek and the team at Multiples 👏. Interested in hearing about best-in-class early stage startups? Sign up to my newsletter where founders pitch their startup in under 3 minutes: https://lnkd.in/ekYzjAD9

It comes as no surprise that the UK dominate in the fintech space. As a consumer, my life is so much easier now that I can manage my finances far more easily than I could 7/8 years ago. These valuations are incredibly promising but it raises a few questions: ❇️ Will any of these companies choose to IPO in the UK and follow in the footsteps of Wise/AJ Bell and MoneySupermarket (Wise announced in June they were moving their primary listing to the US, which shortly followed a 7% jump in shares) ❇️ How many are backed by UK-based venture firms, and what’s the funding mix? With the FCA’s simplified listings regime and the newly announced IPO Task Force (introduced by Rachel Reeves at her second Mansion House speech) there’s a clear projection to encourage more public listings on the London Stock Exchange. Interestingly for us, there are several developments to keep an eye on in the coming years: ✅ Which fintech unicorns will move from private valuations to public markets? ✅ Will they do it in the UK? ✅ Will the UK strengthen the institutional support needed for a strong IPO environment? #IPO #FINTECH #LIQUIDITY #REVOLUT #VC #UNICORN #PUBLIC #PRIVATE

Are you SAFE as a startup 👀 Now this has nothing to do with being in trouble (yes, Tuesday morning dry joke) But it has everything to do with making money...and now that I have your attention 😉 As a startup, one of the hardest and most important things to do is raise money 🤑 You have to convince people that your dream is worth enough for them to put their money into it and that can be tough 😭 And even if you manage to, it's difficult to balance raising enough money without taking on debt and having good terms That's where SAFE notes come in 💪🏾 A SAFE note is a Simple Agreement for Future Equity Basically it's an agreement between you and the investor that for the money she gives your startup now, she is entitled to equity in the future It's not a loan so you don't have to pay it back 😭 Rather the money given is the purchase price for the shares 😃 And sometime in the future (usually when the startup first issue shares) the investor can get to own shares of the company at a discounted price (usually 10% to 30%) So the investor puts his money in a promising company and gets back shares at a cheaper price in the future 😜 And the startup gets some well needed money without taking on debt 😭 Sounds like a win-win.... right 🤔 To be honest, this is a gamble that depends on whether or not the company actually does well Which investment isn't a gamble though and everyone is looking for the next big company to invest in 🥺 . . . But what do you think happens if you sell the startup before issuing the investor her shares 👀 Leave your best guess in the comments

UNLEASH Capital Partners Backs India's Zype in Series B Mumbai-based digital lending startup Zype has raised Rs 90 crore ($10.2 million) in a fresh funding round led by Japanese venture capital firm Unleash Capital Partners. Existing investor Xponentia Capital also participated in the round. 👉 Subscribe to our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, the "Japan FinTech Observer", here: https://lnkd.in/gNjUuSxG https://lnkd.in/g73eNqTG

🚀 Rethink Fintech Growth—Before You Burn Out 🚀 Everyone says "scale fast or die" but that advice can backfire. In our latest blog, The Devil's Advocate Guide to Fintech Growth, we unpack the myths that stall more startups than they scale: ⚡ Growth ≠ just user acquisition ⚡ More features don't always mean more value ⚡ Big funding rounds ≠ guaranteed traction ⚡ Hyper-growth without infrastructure = risk At T Palmer Agency, we believe in growth that sticks: rooted in product-market fit, operational rigor, and long-term value. 👉 Read the full guide here: https://lnkd.in/gh_K_sCV . . . . #Fintech #GrowthStrategy #Startups #SustainableScaling #TPalmerAgency

Major Headlines in Fintech M&A, IPOs & Fundraising (July 26-August 8, 2025) M&A & Strategic Moves Zaggle acquires Rio.Money (India) Hyderabad-based Zaggle entered the consumer credit card space with a Rs 22 crore cash acquisition of Bengaluru-based fintech Rio.Money. This move expands Zaggle’s footprint in consumer finance. IPOs & Corporate Advancements >Revolut switches auditors ahead of $1B raise Revolut tapped EY as its new auditor for FY2026 (pending shareholder approval), replacing BDO. This comes as the company positions itself to raise $1 billion at a $65 billion valuation. >Erebor (crypto bank) seeks expedited OCC charter Founded by Palmer Luckey, Erebor is seeking approval for a crypto-focused fintech charter and filed for FDIC deposit insurance on July 28. Its fundraising memo suggests political connections could fast-track the process. Funding Highlights >Alaan الآن raises $48M Series A The UAE-based spend-management platform closed a $48 million funding round led by Peak XV Partners, marking one of the largest early-stage fintech financings in the Middle East. >Fintech startup DPDzero raises $7M Indian payments startup DPDzero secured $7 million in funding led by GMO Venture Partners, with SMBC Asia and Blume Ventures participating. >Neurofin AI Technologies recapitalizes via $1.6M seed round (Jul 10) Neurofin drew from UNLEASH Capital and others to fund its GenAI-enabled compliance platform for banks and NBFCs in India. >Navi Technologies secures ₹170 crore in debt (Jul 28) Sachin Bansal’s fintech venture raised significant debt from PhillipCapital and other institutional players to scale its financial services offerings. >Saphyre raises $70M for trading workflow software. FTV Capital invested $70 million in Saphyre to support its expansion helping banks streamline post-trade processes and integrate AI and blockchain for compliance. Market Trends & Context -Global fintech fundraising remained robust in July -Investors deployed approximately $4.35 billion across 114 deals, underlining resilience despite sector-wide caution. -Q2 2025 saw a fintech funding rebound. $11 billion flowed into fintechs globally via nearly 400 deals, marking the busiest quarter since 2022. -Mega-rounds returned in late July Startups like Vanta, Ramp, Quavo, Xelix, and Viva Finance broke the typical summer funding lull with large-scale raises. Weekly Insight This period highlights strategic consolidation, capital resilience, and regulatory maneuvering: -Regional strength: Alaan’s major raise underscores Middle East opportunity; -India’s Neurofin and DPDzero remain key innovation hubs. -Market positioning: Revolut’s audit change and Erebor’s charter push signal firms preparing for scale, either via public markets or regulatory advantage. -Enabling infrastructure receives support: Saphyre’s sizable investment illustrates the growing demand for advanced post-trade processing in capital markets. #fintech #crypto

There are various ways to fund an early-stage, research-heavy startup. Often, grant funding or equity-based investment from angels or VCs makes most sense for quantum technology startups in the beginning. But there can be other options. Sometimes, taking out a loan in the form of venture debt can be a sensible and logical approach to growing a quantum technology startup. But how, and why? To find out more about this type of finance, we spoke to Fatou Diagne, Managing Partner at Bootstrap Europe –a provider of venture debt to VC-backed startups across Europe–and Marie Weijler, Startup & Scale-up Banker at Rabobank. They've given us expert answers to important questions, like: - What is venture debt? - Why would a startup not go for a traditional business bank loan instead? - How can venture debt fit into the life cycle of a quantum startup particularly? - What are the risks around venture debt that founders should be aware of? - How should startups prepare to apply for venture debt, and what is the application process like? Whether or not you've ever considered venture debt as a possible way of funding your quantum startup, this guide is useful food for thought... READ the article via the link in the comments 👇

Venture debt gets far less attention than VC investment, but it's well worth founders taking the time to understand the times when it might be a better option, and everything that's involved in the process. To make sense of venture debt, I spoke to Fatou Diagne of Bootstrap Europe and Marie Weijler of Rabobank for this piece for Infinity QD. It's targeted at quantum tech companies in particular, but the principles are the same no matter what kind of tech startup you are 👇

⚛️ 👀 Quantum and Venture Debt? really? If you ever wanted to know more about how Quantum startups can benefit from debt financing and avoid dilution while building world-class technology and businesses, read the excellent article by Martin SFP Bryant at Infinity QD with Marie Weijler. Thanks for the opportunity to contribute to it and help debunk a few myths! After all, venture debt was born out of a need to better finance deeptech startups: Bootstrap Europe 🦾 🏭