Revenue-Based Financing for Technology

Summary show

WHAT IS REVENUE-BASED FINANCING?

Revenue-based total financing (RBF), also referred to as royalty-based financing, is a unique shape of financing provided with RBF investors’ aid to small- to mid-sized groups in alternate for an agreed-upon percentage of a commercial enterprise’ gross sales. The capital company receives month-to-month payments until his invested capital is repaid, at the side of more than one of that invested capital.

Investment funds that provide this unique form of financing are called RBF finances.

TERMINOLOGY

– The month-to-month bills are referred to as royalty payments.
– The percentage of sales paid through the business to the capital company is referred to as the royalty price.
– The couple of-of invested capital this is paid by using the enterprise to the capital issuer is known as a cap.

CASE STUDY

Most RBF capital carriers are seeking a 20% to twenty-five% return on their investment. Let’s use a straightforward example: If a commercial enterprise receives $1M from an RBF capital issuer, it is expected to pay off $two hundred 000 to $250,000 according to 12 months to the capital company. That quantity to about $17,000 to $21,000 paid per month through the enterprise to the investor.

As such, the capital provider expects to receive the invested capital again within 4 to 5 years.

WHAT IS THE ROYALTY RATE?

Each capital issuer determines its own predicted royalty charge. In our easy instance above, we can find paintings backward to decide the charge. Let’s expect that the commercial enterprise produces $5M in gross sales in 12 months. As indicated above, they received $1M from the capital company. They are paying $two hundred 000 lower back to the investor every year. The royalty fee in this example is $two hundred,000/$5M = 4%

VARIABLE ROYALTY RATE

The royalty payments are proportional to the pinnacle line of the enterprise. Everything else is identical; the better the commercial enterprise’s sales, the higher the monthly royalty payments the business makes to the capital company. Traditional debt includes constant payments. Therefore, the RBF scenario seems unfair. In a way, the business owners are being punished for their hard work and success in growing the enterprise. To treat this trouble, maximum royalty financing agreements contain a variable royalty charge timetable. In this way, the better the revenues, the lower the royalty charge applied. The genuine sliding scale timetable is negotiated between the events concerned and sincerely outlined inside the time period sheet and agreement.

HOW DOES A BUSINESS EXIT THE REVENUE-BASED FINANCING ARRANGEMENT?

Every enterprise, especially era businesses that grow very quickly, will eventually outgrow their need for this shape of financing. As the business balance sheet and profits statement become more potent, the business will pass up the financing ladder and attract more conventional financing solution vendors. The commercial enterprise may also come to be eligible for the traditional debt at inexpensive interest charges.

As such, every sales-based financing agreement outlines how an enterprise should purchase-down or purchase-out the capital issuer.

Buy-Down Option:

The enterprise proprietor usually has an alternative to buying down a portion of the royalty settlement—the precise phrases for every transaction’s buy-down alternative range. Generally, the capital provider expects to get hold of a sure unique percent (or a couple of) of its invested capital earlier than the buy-down choice may be exercised using the enterprise proprietor. The business proprietor can exercise choice via creating a single charge or more than one lump-sum payment to the capital issuer. The price buys down a positive percentage of the royalty agreement. The invested capital and monthly royalty payments will then be decreased using a proportional percentage.

Buy-Out Option:

In some cases, the enterprise may additionally determine it wishes to shop for out and extinguish the complete royalty financing agreement. This frequently occurs whilst the business is being sold, and the acquirer chooses not to maintain the financing association. Or while the commercial enterprise has come to be robust enough to access cheaper assets of financing and desires to restructure itself financially. In this situation, the business can shop for out the whole royalty agreement for a predetermined more than one of the combination invested capital. This a couple of is usually known as a cap. The unique phrases for a buy-out choice vary for every transaction.

USE OF FUNDS

There are typically no regulations on how a commercial enterprise may use RBF capital. Unlike in a conventional debt arrangement, there are little to no restrictive debt covenants on how the enterprise can use the finances. The capital company permits the enterprise managers to apply the price range as they see healthy to grow the commercial enterprise.

Acquisition financing:

Many generation businesses use the RBF budget to acquire different corporations to ramp up their growth. RBF capital companies inspire this increase as it increases the revenues that their royalty rate may be carried out to. As the commercial enterprise grows with the aid of acquisition, the RBF fund receives better royalty bills and, consequently, advantages from the increase. As such, RBF funding can be a wonderful source of acquisition financing for an era agency.

BENEFITS OF REVENUE-BASED FINANCING TO TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES

No belongings, No personal guarantees, No conventional debt:

Technology companies are unique because they hardly ever have conventional hard belongings like actual estate, equipment, or equipment. Technology companies are driven via highbrow capital and intellectual assets. These intangible IP properties are difficult to a fee. As such, traditional creditors supply them at little to no cost. This makes it extraordinarily tough for small- to mid-sized technology businesses to access conventional financing. Revenue-based financing does no longer requires an enterprise to collateralize the financing with any assets. No personal ensures are required of the enterprise proprietors. In a traditional financial institution mortgage, the bank frequently requires non-public ensures from the proprietors and pursues the proprietors’ personal assets within the occasion of a default.

RBF capital provider’s pursuits are aligned with the commercial enterprise proprietor:

Technology businesses can scale up quicker than conventional organizations. As such, revenues can ramp up quickly, allowing the enterprise to pay down the royalty quickly. On the alternative hand, a bad product brought to market can break the commercial enterprise revenues simply as quickly. A conventional creditor, along with a financial institution, gets constant debt payments from a business debtor no matter whether the enterprise grows or shrinks. During lean instances, the commercial enterprise makes the exact equal debt bills to the bank.