Aiding Entrepreneurs
Bhavik Vasa is the founder of GetVantage, which is an alternative funding platform based in Mumbai. The platform offers revenue-based financing (RBF) that enables entrepreneurs to finance their startups without diluting equity or paying interest. Instead, GetVantage charges a flat fee as a share of future revenues.
As traditional venture capital funding experiences a slowdown due to the global tech downturn, RBF has emerged as a faster model for entrepreneurs to finance their businesses. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands have been the primary driver for RBF. It is estimated that RBF presents a $100 billion opportunity in India by 2025.
Vasa says that GetVantage offers a fair, flexible and founder-friendly alternative to raising money. He further mentions that RBF works both complementary to and supplementary to venture capital depending on the size and stage of the business raising money.
Vasa, though, points out a diversified set of problems. He mentions that the old world of fundraising was based on who you know but the new world of fundraising is based on business fundamentals and data analysis.
GetVantage offers tailored packages to the founders. According to Vasa, GetVantage is the only RBF platform in India with an NBFC license and their non-dilutive financing model is more balanced, structured and step-wise.
Referring to the funding winter, Vasa says, “Nature is similar to life and business. Nature has different seasons, every winter is followed by a spring, spring is followed by summer and so on. Similarly, in markets, you sometimes see a bullish market and sometimes a bearish market.”
RBF has now diversified its offering to include new non-dilutive capital solutions such as working capital demand loans, marketing capital, fixed-term loans and revolving credit lines.
“The important point should be that India is an emerging market and an emerging market is a place where anybody aspiring to build a business should be primarily focusing,” says Vasa, explaining the importance of diversification in investment channels for business.
Vasa highlights the importance of business fundamentals saying that as a founder one must build something sustainable with an eye on the fundamentals because that is something that is never going to change.
“Make sure that you are going into this journey of entrepreneurship for the right reason and that you are truly passionate about solving some kind of problem, otherwise the journey is going to be really difficult,” Vasa states.
