The team at Capchase says they’re pleased to be deepening their presence in Europe alongside firms such as Sastrify and Calqulate, so that they can better support founders on their journey to “rapid yet deliberate growth.”
Capchase explains that Slush is the most important technology event in Europe for startups and investors. Given what they’ve come to expect from the Slush organizers, it’s “no surprise that production and execution were near flawless,” the team at Capchase wrote in a blog post.
But what caught them by “surprise was seeing for the first time in two years just how much more impactful in-person events are.” They had more and deeper conversations with entrepreneurs and investors, which “relayed how much the industry has matured in recent years.”
For instance, company founders or business owners “no longer see venture capital as the only way to finance growth.”
Many professionals are now aware of the wider set of financing options, including revenue-based financing, the team at Capchase noted while adding that this “savviness is underlined by the industry’s explosive growth.”
The European technology sector has seen over $100 billion in investments in 2021, “bringing the total ecosystem value to $3 trillion ($1 trillion of which was realized in the last 8 months).”
In order to further build on this steady momentum, Capchase spoke with Calqulate founder Niko Laine and Sastrify founder Sven Lackinger on how entrepreneurs can “optimize their approach across phases of cash management.”
As noted during the discussions, fundraising is “easy when you’re in a good position, but it can be very challenging when your raise is reactive to suboptimal business dynamics.”
According to the blog post from Capchase, the “trick is to incorporate flexible finance solutions early to preemptively manage your cash position.” Having more options “allows founders to protect against the risk of needing to raise without the right metrics,” the blog noted.
Henrik Grim stated:
“A lot of companies come to us because they are in between the venture ecosystem and traditional debt financing, and struggle to find scalable solutions to fit their needs. That is where alternative financing can come in as a more flexible and immediate solution.”
For most software-as-a-service or SaaS firms, “pricing and billing cycle decisions form the cornerstone of financial strategy.” But despite their importance, they are “underutilized as levers to optimize cash flow,” the update noted.
For instance, monthly payments may “reduce customer friction and improve conversion, but annual payments can provide free cash flow to fund additional customer acquisition.”
Capchase also noted in their blog that Calqulate “directly tackles the challenges startups face in seeing how pricing and billing factors impact the bottom line, and helps illustrate the effect of potential changes.”
Niko Laine added:
“Companies should use metrics like CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost), CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) and ACV (Annual Contract Value) to forecast cash flow, predict runway, and position themselves best for fundraising.”
And when it comes to managing suppliers, founders often “see SaaS subscription costs as fixed,” the update explained while adding that “understanding market rates for these supplier services and negotiating alongside other buyers can reduce costs and improve your cash position.”
Tools such as Sastrify may “reduce the burden of benchmarking and procurement for SaaS subscriptions by making the process easy, transparent and effective,” the blog post from Capchase explained.
Sven Lackinger said:
“As you grow, it becomes more important to understand your numbers beyond ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue). Cost optimization is crucial to ensure that the money you bring in works as hard as possible to fuel expansion.”
The increasingly sophisticated European tech ecosystem “comes with greater available resources, competition, and tools to navigate the journey,” the update revealed.
When a third of startups fail because of cash flow issues, it’s “imperative for founders to tap into resources that enable them to manage their finances in a smarter way.”
The Capchase team also mentioned:
“We at Capchase are thrilled to be deepening our presence in Europe alongside companies like Sastrify and Calqulate, so that we can better support founders on their journey to rapid yet deliberate growth.”