“I’m not a white guy, can I raise investment too?”
“Pigeon Dragon drone company raises £45 million seed round from every VC that exists!”
“Awesome profitable company with great culture dies because it can’t raise the money needed to scale!”
Ok, maybe I’m being a bit dramatic with my fake TechCrunch article titles, but you know what I’m alluding to.
But Diversity VC stated in their most recent report that just one percent of venture-backed founders were black and women-funded startups received only 9 percent of investments.
When you read another article about a joker whose dad plays golf with the partner at “That VC firm” and they raise a whole bunch of money off an idea written on tree bark from their LSD session in Redwood forest you begin to lose hope all over again.
Fair play to them, if they can raise the capital for their idea then more power to them. I’m not here to moan about them having easier access to capital than the rest of us.
I’m here to ask for easier access to capital for the rest of us. Pause for a moment though, I’m not talking about throwing VC money around like a Pigeon Dragon drone startup buying office furniture.
I’m talking about other forms of finance, like convertible loan notes, easier access to angel investors or my personal favourite from firms like ustwo Adventure where they provide funding up to £500k but they “prioritise profitability, culture, and a long-term view!”
They ask for “no equity by default, they want shared revenue, and a capped return.” Their “model gives founders the option to grow their company as they see fit.”
Now that’s what I’m talking about, this is funding for the rest of us! DivInc will one day have a fund similar to this and that’ll be amazing but, for now, we, along with thousands of other companies are stuck with great profits, an amazing culture and a business that needs new forms of capital to scale.
If you’re interested in investing in profitable companies with great cultures, then please get in contact, as I know a lot of them!
jay@wearedivinc.com
