This past week, Geekwire interviewed venture capitalist Bill Bryant of DFJ following his recent return to Seattle from London. On the same day, GeekWire ran a news brief about the accelerating interest in Lighter Capital’s brand of funding, effectively answering Bryant’s call for a new model of early growth funding to fill the gap facing entrepreneurs between the friends and family stage and accessing institutional venture capital.
I wholeheartedly agree with Bill’s comments about how the pre-Series A funding gap can really hamper many startups in Seattle. Frankly, this happens in all startup markets—even the Bay Area. Too often, a startup launches and gets some traction, but struggles to find $200K-$1M to ramp things up or attract a VC to lead a Series A.
Entrepreneurs then have to find angels to fill this funding gap. But this process can be a long haul, and lots of entrepreneurs don’t have the personal connections or the time to successfully complete an angel round. It’s tough herding cats for rounds of this size, especially with significantly fewer super angels in Seattle than in the Bay Area, as Bill points out in the article.
This is exactly the gap we are seeking to fill at Lighter Capital. We get growing technology companies funded fast, providing $50K to $1M in growth capital in as a little as a month. And unlike angels or VC’s we don’t require equity or control. We like to think of it as a more entrepreneur-friendly form or funding. You can learn more about how our revenue-based financing here.