Tapline, a Berlin-based digital finance platform, has secured €31.7 million in equity and debt in the Pre-Seed funding round. Out of the total, debt funding of €30 million was provided by UK-based alternative asset management company Fasanara Capital.
Earlier this year, Fasanara Capital raised a $500 million in enterprise capital fund to invest in fintech and Web3 pioneers. The remaining €1.7 million equity round is led by the Czech VC firm V-Sharp Venture Studio, alongside Antler, Black Pearls VC, 365 fintech, Depo Ventures, Impetus Capital, and several business angels investing in the round.
The latest capital injection will allow Tapline to utilise the opportunity in the exponentially growing SaaS market. The investment will also enhance its solution and hire key individuals around marketing and product.
“We listened to the fundraising pain points in the market, and it was clear that an alternative financing solution that is transparent, easy to understand, and offers competitive prices with no hidden costs was required. Ultimately, we can provide a quick, transparent, and non-dilutive capital solution to founders, so they can continue to focus on what they do best: building innovative businesses. In addition, our platform will allow SaaS companies to continue focusing on growth during the current economic uncertainty,” says Dean Hastie, co-founder and CEO.
Digital finance platform for SaaS companies
Founded by Dean Hastie, Dmitrij Miller, and Peter Grouev in 2021, Tapline enables subscription-based companies to turn 12 months of forecasted recurring revenue into upfront cash. As a result, founders get the capital they need today for tomorrow’s growth and expansion.
The company focuses on the SaaS vertical across B2B and B2C business models, particularly in the DACH and CEE markets. As per the company’s claims, SaaS models offer high levels of predictability in recurring revenues, which allows for accurate financial underwriting.
A diverse team
For example, SaaS companies with as little as €8K MRR (monthly recurring revenue) can fund their growth by trading up to 60% of their ARR into instant, non-dilutive capital. Currently, the company employs around eight people, and 25% are female. The co-founders are based in Germany but are from Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and South Africa. The rest of the team works remotely and are from Bosnia, Lebanon and Spain.
“Access to capital for digital SMEs is a key driver of growth. With today’s difficult macroeconomic environment, a financial solution is essential to support these companies. This is why we are happy to support German-based Tapline, with their mission of democratizing access to capital to digital SMEs,” says Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital.
“Many outstanding SaaS companies have a proven product and a growing customer base, but they need additional funding to fuel further growth. Unfortunately, for companies not suitable for or not wanting to raise venture capital, there hasn’t been a suitable form of financing in our region to take their business to the next level and allow them to keep innovating. Tapline, with its non-dilutive financing solution, perfectly fits this need. In addition, Tapline has an amazing founder-product fit with Dean, Peter, and Dmitrij, so the investment was a no-brainer for us,” says Matej Zabadal, Managing Partner of V-Sharp Venture Studio.
