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- ♞ Non-Dilutive Financing
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How can you raise money without giving up equity?
Lots of founders love non-dilutive funding, which allows them to capitalize their company and grow without giving up equity and the business's upside.
Today, I am going to go through some of the types of non-dilutive financing that you can use to grow your startup
Grants - This is the most obvious; you have government grants and university grants (there may be others, but these are the most common). The significant upside isn’t even the funding but the credibility that comes from receiving these grants. It is an indicator that major institutions view your company/product as important and innovative. This can be especially influential when dealing with angel investors.
Crowdfunding - While equity crowdfunding is the common path today, it wasn’t long ago that Kickstarter was a way for companies to raise funding without giving away equity. While it is not as common as it once was, this is still an option that should be explored. It can allow you to test your product market fit, raise capital and keep equity.
StartEngine’s $30M Surge — Own a Piece Before June 26
Private markets are having a moment, thanks to companies like StartEngine.
The leading alternative investing platform is helping everyday investors like you access deals once reserved for VCs and insiders, including exposure to private market titans like OpenAI, Databricks, and Perplexity.¹
How’s it going? In Q1 2025, StartEngine pulled off $30M in revenue, its biggest quarter ever (based on unaudited financials).²
But StartEngine isn’t just a middleman. The company earns 20% carried interest on select pre-IPO offerings, unlocking value for shareholders when these deals succeed.³
How can you tap into this diversification play? By investing in StartEngine.
StartEngine has crowdfunded $85M+ to date, and you can join 45K+ shareholders before the company’s current round closes on June 26.
Reg A+ via StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. No BD/intermediary involved. Investment is speculative, illiquid & high risk. See OC and Risks on page.
Tax Credits - In the UK, US and Canada there are extremely generous tax credits (in some places you can get the money back as cash) where you can get back about 30% of what you spend on developers and other R&D costs. This can extend your runways significantly. The downside is that these filings can be complex and require accountants who eat into the actual profits of filing them.
Payment Terms - If you can sell annual memberships then you essentially pre-fund a year of expenses with each sale. Even with physical products, if you can buy on net-30 terms then get paid upfront for sales then your payment terms can fund your business. Smart payment terms are always overlooked as a smart way to capitalize the business.
Venture Debt - If you have a proven way to attract new business then you can rely on venture debt to fund that customer acquisition (and growth as a result).
Have you used any of these non-dilutive funding sources? |
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Onwards and Upwards,
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