Vitt launches alternative to venture capital for UK Startups with massive $15m pre-seed 

Revenue-based financing startup Vitt emerges from Stealth Mode with a $15m investment  round co-led by Better Tomorrow and SpeedInvest.  

LONDON, JANUARY 12: Vitt, which defines itself as “the future of financing for SaaS”  today emerged from stealth mode with a huge $15m investment (mix of equity & debt), co led by Better Tomorrow and SpeedInvest, with participation from Village Global,  Entrepreneur First, Zayn Capital & the founders of Wayflyer (Aidan Corbett), Comply  Advantage (Charlie Delingpole), Peakon (Phil Chambers), Choco (Daniel Khachab) among a  long list of founders and operators. 

Vitt (‘Finance’ in Hindi), which is now live for UK startups, allows SaaS companies to raise  growth capital on its platform based solely on recurring revenues, providing startups and  scaleups with an alternative to debt and dilution. The London- and Berlin-based startup uses a proprietary data model to underwrite and evaluate a SaaS business’s core metrics, such as  churn and growth. SaaS businesses (either bootstrapped or venture-backed) starting from a  £100,000 ARR can get financing with simple 5-minute application. This replaces weeks and  often months of time-consuming VC interviews and due diligence, which keeps founders away from running their business.  

“During my three years in Venture Capital, I became acutely aware of how limited the ‘VC  product offering’ was for entrepreneurs. Not only is it slow – a multi-week, C-level intensive  exercise – but it is incredibly costly. Selling equity short-changes both founders and early  employees who do the work and take the real risk. Company value should be owned by  value-creators, not capital providers,” said Saket Kumar, cofounder and CEO of Vitt.  

On the opportunity, Speedinvest General Partner Stefan Klestil commented:

“The strong  market pull from software businesses for new financing models & Vitt’s innovative & fast  new solution leaves them well-positioned to dominate the subscription financing  market. Cofounders Saket & Greg’s obsession around building the best financing solution for  founders leaves us excited to partner with them on this journey.” 

While initially targeting early stage startups, Vitt’s vision is to become the first fully digital  investment bank.

“We’re building Goldman Sachs for SaaS. There are tens of thousands of  SaaS companies globally and this number will only 10x if not 100x as traditional industries  from construction to healthcare are engulfed by the cloud. They will need a full stack financial services provider; being a capital provider is just the start.” 

Jake Gibson, General Partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures (an angel investor in Clearco)  said:

“Vitt brings a much-needed addition to the early-stage financing landscape in Europe.  In addition to creating a valuable product for a customer that was previously limited in its  choices when it came to raising capital, the rapid digitization of the economy has meant a  rise in smaller opportunity businesses that use SaaS models but aren’t viable for venture  investors. Vitt provides a fantastic alternative for these companies and one that sets itself  apart from competitors and incumbents.”