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GetVantage debuts with revenue-based financing for ecommerce

Tuesday, January 21, 2020 — 14:59:28 (EST)

Mumbai, January 21, 2020: GetVantage, a new Mumbai-based fintech venture officially launches today as the first in India to offer Revenue-Based Financing for India’s burgeoning eCommerce sector. The GetVantage platform is India’s first and only fully operational smart alternative funding platform for business-owners to raise growth capital without diluting ownership, and for investors to now fuel India’s growth story more sustainably.

GetVantage offers your online business accessible and affordable Capital advances; financing your business’ digital marketing spends so you can focus on what you do best and double down on growth.

The alternative funding model was born out of the realisation that new economy (online) businesses need a fresh financing solution that’s a native of the digital economy, and designed to work for founders and entrepreneurs by aligning with their mission and values, instead of against them.

This alternate funding model is already gaining significant traction in foreign markets, with firms like Clearbanc, Lighter Capital, and RevUp Capital leading the way in reshaping how digital-first brands are fundraising.

Pioneering this innovation across South Asia, GetVantage is committed to enabling Indian brands and digital businesses get to the next level of scale and profitability in an efficient and sustainable manner without needing founders and business owners giving up equity, board seats, or personal guarantees.

The leadership team at GetVantage is a strong mix of Alternative Investments and Fintech domain expertise. Founded by Fintech industry veteran and entrepreneur, Bhavik Vasa (formerly Chief Growth Officer at ItzCash, EbixCash, ex-RadicalPay); a FintechAsia200 fellow and Northwood University and Stanford entrepreneurship program Alumnus.

Rounding of as founding team are IIT and IIM alumnus with a strong background in a Alternative investments led Akash Mehta (ex-Capital18, ex-Brand Capital) and Technology & Ops led by fintech veteran Amit Srivastava (ex-StartupbootcampFintech, ex-AquaPay). Alongside a seasoned venture capital parnter Sachin Tagra, as incubator advisor.

GetVantage is backed by some of India’s renowned early-stage investors including Samyakth Capital, Venture Catalysts, Astir Ventures and angels & evangalists like Karun Arya, (Oriente fintech, ex-Uber), Vivek Awasthi (CurrenciesDirect), Ashok Goel Family Office, Mitesh Shah (BookMyShow), Punit Shah (Innoven Capital), along with marquee NBFCs and debt funds as the venture’s funding partners.

What is Revenue-Based Financing Revenue-Based Financing (RBF) is an alternative investment model wherein a company raises capital from an investor based on a data-driven projection of its future revenues. RBF is Non-Equity Financing, meaning the model doesn’t require founders to dilute equity and/ or control in their business. Neither does it ask founders to put up collateral or personal guarantees. The investor recovers the amount invested as a share of the business’ future revenues. That amount typically includes the principal amount plus a flat fee.

“The traditional process of raising capital is complex, cumbersome, and simply doesn’t work for all enterprises and business owners. As a result, India’s burgeoning young entrepreneurs and their digita-first businesses continue to be highly underserved,” says Bhavik Vasa, GetVantage Founder & CEO. “We are the most founder-friendly capital solution. At GetVantage, we are measuring potential not just risk and we believe Revenue-Based Financing can be a gamechanger for the Indian startup and digital enterprise ecosystem. Our model encourages companies to focus on solving problems, generating revenues, growing sustainably and staying true to their mission.”

“We’re proud to pioneer this concept in India and offer a meaningful solution that puts founders and their businesses in the driver’s seat and on a path toward sustainable growth and profitability.Hence our ethos #RevenueFirst”

Anuj Golecha, Founder, Samyakth Capital & co-founder Venture Catalyst says, “We’re excited to back GetVantage. We have complete belief in Bhavik and the team to be able to pull off something this innovative. Financing is entering an interesting phase and there is an urgent need to democratize the fundraising process. We’re excited to be at an inflection point of a new asset class getting structured in the form of Revenue-Based Financing. On a more personal level, I’m looking forward to learning a lot from GetVantage’s journey of creating a new asset class.”

Who GetVantage is for

GetVantage is purpose-built for India’s digital-first brands. Brands that were born online, sell online, transact online, and use digital media as their primary marketing channels.

These include: Direct-to-Consumer brands, Online Retailers, E-commerce, Consumer Internet services/ B2B software solutions providers, or Mobile apps.

The one underlying ethos that ties such brands with each other, and with GetVantage, is that they all consider revenues to be the best measure of growth.

How GetVantage works

GetVantage offers digital businesses growth capital to fund their digital marketing spends so they can scale their marketing, drive sales, and increase revenues.

Our funding decisions are data-driven based on performance. There is no collaterals. Founders don’t need to give up equity or put up personal guarantees. There’s no interest charged either. Just one flat fee – recovered as small shares of a business’ future revenues.

At the core of GetVantage’s Fintech platform is its proprietary machine-learning based Credit Decision Engine and an all-cloud Deal Management System (DMS).

By offering a full-stack tech solution GetVantage aims to streamline the fundraising process - making it easy, fast, transparent, secure and data-driven. To apply for capital via GetVantage a company simply connects it’s digital marketing platforms and revenue accounts to the GetVantage platform, after which tour proprietary algorithmic analysis is conducted by the Credit Engine that can offer up a term sheet in a matter of weeks.

“I’m excited that we’ve been able to stitch together a solution that India’s growing online economy deserves and can depend upon to achieve its potential. The New (Internet) Economy is driven by digital-first brands and Revenue-Based Financing is, by-design, a financing model to Fuel this New Economy,” adds Bhavik.

GetVantage already has an exciting pipeline of businesses that it will be adding to its portfolio. In the next two years, the company will expand into new markets across Southeast Asia starting with Singapore.

GetVantage is now open to applications and has only one thing to say to India’s digital businesses – “You focus on Revenues. We’ll bring in the Capital.”

About GetVantage:

GetVantage is India’s first Revenue-based financing platform; providing growth capital to digital brands without founders having to dilute equity. The data-driven platform provides capital advances of between Rs 20L and Rs 2 Cr. at no interest and no hidden charges; just One Flat Fee that’s recovered as small, flexible shares of future revenues. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Mumbai, GetVantage is a Fintech investment platform offering Revenue-Based Financing as an asset class in India, offering investors a new avenue to invest in India’s emerging growth story.

About Samyakth Capital:

Samyakth Capital is a hybrid growth fund that invests into emerging asset class. As a hybrid growth fund, we predominantly support growth stage & VC backed companies in the form of diverse debt capital options, across different industry sectors and business models. We invest & partner with companies that have potential to create lasting value for customers. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs turn their own ideas and visions into successful companies with fundraising and networking guidance. Founded in 2017, Samyakth Capital currently has 15 companies in it's portfolio. Few of the companies include Rentomojo, Bharat Pe, Pee Safe, Koinex, Liquiloans, ClearDekho.

About Venture Catalysts:

Venture Catalysts is India’s leading incubator and early stage investor present in 25 cities in India & 5 countries worldwide including London, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong & China. It has been backed by 5 billionaires from India and a board of advisors with 300+ startup investments. In the last 48 months, Venture Catalysts has funded 87 startups from a total of 16,000+ applications. We have invested a total of USD 40 Mn into these startups and also led co-investments of USD 120 Mn in them. Some of our marquee investments include Bharat Pe, Coutloot, Home Capital, Beardo, Koinex, SUPR Daily, FYND and many more.

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Source: Company press release.