Equity-free funding alternatives; how RBF works; maximising R&D credits

Alternative Funding and how to get it

Sep 26, 2021

Hi! I’m Esme, and this is the 4th issue of The Considered Club. Welcome to the 98 people who signed up this week. You'll find plenty of resources that guide you towards raising Venture Capital and valuing profit over everything else. However, The Considered Club is a space for you to consider what funding options might better suit your business.

Hi folks!

I haven’t written a blog before but this week I wrote about what equity funding is, why it might not be right for you, and what equity-free alternatives there are.

Raising equity can be a painful process and the VC model only really works for a small number of business ideas and founders. Why do founders go down this path anyway? Because often this is what’s been defined as ‘success’.

Instead of chasing the allure of VC, reflect on the type of business you want to build and how you want to do it. Do you want a hyper-growth business or one that’s growing at a slower rate but is more sustainable?

Here’s the blog I wrote. I hope you find it helpful on your fundraising journey.

Esme Verity @EsmeVerity

As a founder, one of the most important factors to take into account when looking for capital to grow your business is the equity dilemma. But if equity is not the right option for you, what other alternatives are out there? 👇 medium.com/@esme.verity/w…

Every way but the VC way

Grants

Kwanda | £1,000 or £5,000 for black-owned small businesses
The British Academy up to £10,000 for humanties and social science research
Mathew Good Foundation | a share of £10,000 for charities or social enterprises

Incubators & Accelerators

Newspeak House | for locally-minded technologists to become part of a community of practitioners working on systemic change.
Barclays Eagle Labs + Foundervine| for 40 Black Founder-led businesses to join a free 12-week immersive programme
WECA | a business support programme for creative industries in the West of England

Challenges & Prizes

EUREKA | share of up to £2.5M for UK SME’s collaborating with EU organisations
Innovate UK | a share of up to £800,000 for early-stage, human-centred design projects in creative or immersive experiences.
The William Sutton Prize| receive £20,000 for developing an innovative concept, product or service to meet this year’s theme of ‘A Home for All'.

Are you applying for funding right now? I’d love to hear from you if you're using the links above to secure funding.

Celebrations

Agile Homes & Property, and Lanu receive investment from the Venture Studio from Crisis
The Drivers Co-op has raised $1.2Million and is now the largest worker owned co-op in the world
An alternative revenue-based financing company for digital-native businesses based in Singapore, has raised US$6.3 million in funding.

Here’s how RBF works

Bryce Roberts @bryce

Tired of your revenue growing but your ownership shrinking? There are more lending options today than ever before rebranding themselves as RBF (not THAT RBF!) but is there really a difference between Revenue Based Financing and good old fashioned Loans? Here’s how RBF works:

In case you missed it

Stir to Action | are providing 80 fully funded training places on their New Economy Programme
Mailchimp | got bought for $12 billion and employees own no equity
James Lizars | explains what R&D credits are and how to maximise them
Good Here | find Social Impact Startups by category

Want more? Join Considered Capital

If you are fundraising right now, we’re here to help. Register your interest for our next cohort of ‘How to Raise Alternative Funding’

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Until next Sunday,

Esme

Written by Esme Verity, Founder at Considered Capital. You can find me on Twitter.