Special edition: Say hello to long-term equity free loans; How to fundraise for a co-op; Financing your climate venture

For founders seeking the best alternatives to VC

Hello folks! This is a special edition of The Considered Club, a bi-weekly newsletter for founders seeking the best alternatives to VC. The most clicked post from last week’s issue was the Considered Funding Directory.

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Hello folks!

If you’re new here, I’m Esme. I’m the founder of Considered Capital and we’re on a mission to help founders access the right capital for their startups. Every 2 weeks I compile and send a list of the latest global alternative funding opportunities, news, and articles.

Today is a special Considered Club issue to welcome in all 178 of you that joined this week. We had over 100 downloads of The Considered Directory in just 24hrs which just blew my mind 🤯

If you’ve already read the Directory, I hope you're finding it helpful and have already spotted some funding opportunities for which you can start applying.

The Considered Directory will be available online for a bit longer, so please share it with any founders or friends you think will find it valuable (…while it's still free!).

You can share by passing on this link here so that they can sign up.

We are hosting lots of community events over the next few weeks. The first event will be announced in next week’s issue so make sure you’ve subscribed.

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Say hello to long-term equity free loans

Swedish startup Ark Kapital is bringing something new to the startup funding table offering non-dilutive loans of up to €10m to startups. And it’s just raised a €165m seed round.

This is exciting news for founders looking for patient capital because Ark’s loans can last up to seven years and are based on future revenue projections. It’s even more exciting because unlike most revenue-based funders that predominantly focus on SaaS and ecommerce companies, Ark plans to work with all kinds of early-stage tech companies that have high growth potential but aren’t yet profitable.

“We think RBF is fantastic but we also feel it’s highly standardised and is made one-size-fits-all which makes it a little bit limited as a product,” says Axel Bruzelius, COO of Ark.

It’s exciting to see new models being explored! Read the full story here.

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Money

Grants

The Angel Community CIC | access up to £1K in grant funding for social entrepreneurs with a great idea. Investment decisions are made democratically by the community.

The Fore | receive 6-18 month grants of up to £15,000 for UK social enterprises

Royal London | access a grant of £10-30K for ventures that build financial resilience or mitigate the social impacts of a move to a net zero world

Accelerators

Elemental Accelerator | receive $300K of funding (structured as a SAFE or convertible note) + 9 months of coaching and support

Blue Economy Ocean Accelerator | 8 week programme with dedicated support for UK businesses working in the blue economy

Allia Accelerator Challenge | 6 months of direct mentoring and expertise sharing for 3 UK Social Enterprises with a prize pool of £30k

Circular Cities | tailor made accelerator programme with circular focus and climate impact + access to grant money

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JOIN OUR NEXT FUNDING SCHOOL COHORT 

Simply put, “We help founders raise money that aligns with their values”.

Most funding guides out there will steer you towards raising Venture Capital. But VC routes mean giving up significant ownership in your business. It can also lead to pressure to drive your business in a direction you don't want or feel ready for.

We ask, "Why should we sacrifice purpose for profit when you can have both?"

We're here to show you that if you care equally about profit and purpose, you can succeed.

(Psst…early bird tickets are now on sale for a limited time!)

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Insights

Alissa Orlando | tells us how to fundraise for a cooperative startup

Juho Makkonen | explores how much funding a successful marketplace needs and what the best source of funding might be

Climate Tech VC | shares a guide on financing your climate venture and what types of funding to access at each stage

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Thanks for reading as always! Until next Sunday!

Esme

Founder, Considered Capital

Want more? Join me on LinkedIn.

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