FinovateFall 2011 / Lighter Capital
Presenter Profile:
How they describe themselves: We founded Lighter Capital to give small businesses a better funding option. As entrepreneurs ourselves, we felt it was time for some serious change in the financial services industry. So, what are we doing differently? We’re combining an innovative financial structure with a technology-enabled lending process, and capping it all off with a more open and avant-garde approach to small business lending.
How they describe their product/innovation: RevenueLoan™ is our light-weight and flexible financing option that fits an unmet need in the small business funding market. Our revenue-based finance model exchanges growth capital for a fixed percentage of a company’s revenues. Entrepreneurs prefer this as there’s no dilution, no loss of control, and no fixed repayment schedule. For us, this provides a more scalable funding strategy as we have more consistent repayment than venture investors while achieving higher rates of returns than banks. We’re also the first small business lender to build a company’s social media and web presence directly into our loan evaluation process.
Contacts:
Bus. Dev.: Andy Sack, CEO, asack@revenueloan.com
Press: Drew Schwarz, dschwarz@lightercapital.com, 425-522-3746
Sales: Rob Belcher, Principal, rbelcher@lightercapital.com, 303-870-9529
Website: www.lightercapital.com
Blog: www.lightercapital.com/blog
HQ Location: Seattle, WA
Company Founded: June 2010
Product Being Demoed: Lighter Capital / Revenue Loan
Product Launched: August 9, 2011
Metrics: Funding raised to date: $6 million, Number of employees: 10, Number of financings to date: 10, Total $ value of financings to date: $1.4 million+
- Key Executives
Andy Sack, CEO: Andy has over 15 years of experience running and investing in high tech businesses, most recently as co-founder and CEO of Judy’s Book, a local search social network. Prior to founding Judy’s Book in 2004, Andy co-founded three successful Internet technology companies: Kefta, a leading provider of real time customer interaction solutions; Abuzz, an enterprise knowledge management solution; and Firefly Network, an Internet company that pioneered internet personalization technologies. Andy received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1990, and his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.
Key Stats
- Key Board Members
Rob Martin (Partner, Summit Capital), Erik Benson (Managing Director, Voyager Capital)
- Key Investors
Summit Capital, Voyager Capital, Founder’s Co-op