Venture debt startup Fundabl raises $3.2m to 'break down the wall' for funding mid-size deals

A Sydney-headquartered venture debt company founded in 2021 has completed a $3.2 million raise and upsized its existing debt facility to support more startups, as Fundabl's co-founder Ethan Singer makes the bold claim that the company can sit alongside the biggest names in Australian venture capital.

As a self-described "new breed of lender", within a short space of time Fundabl has earned the trust of more than 65 companies to date, and its partners include the likes of Sprintlaw, Lyka, T-Shirt Ventures, Safewill and Amber Electric, which recently completed its $28 million Series C round.

The company aims to hit the "sweet spot" of loans of between $500,000 and $5 million - an area its founders Ethan Singer and Nathan Ryba believe has been overlooked by traditional lenders amidst a challenging funding climate.

"Australia is brimming with innovative companies poised for breakout growth, but too many are facing challenges when it comes to raising capital on good terms," explains Ryba, Fundabl's general manager.

"When you look at the funding landscape in Australia, there aren’t many lenders focused on mid-range deals at the $500,000 to $5 million mark.

"We're here to break down that wall. We want to partner and empower founders with flexible capital options to achieve their ambitions - growth, they can truly own."

By meeting the demand for customised, founder-first debt capital solutions to compliment equity deals, Fundabl claims to be changing the game for founders.

"We’ve seen many founders leveraging debt to achieve their ambitions, or as a means to preserve their equity," says Singer.

"We truly believe we can sit alongside the likes of Blackbird, Airtree, OIF and Square Peg, as a driving force for entrepreneurs in Australia, albeit with a model that ensures founders own more of their own company."

Singer adds that equity dilution is always a very sensitive topic for founders, especially for those that "know they are onto something great, and their business is becoming more valuable over time".

"We are not an alternative, but complementary to equity capital," he clarifies.

"There is more than one way to construct the capital stack and raising the all-equity model might not be the most efficient and optimal approach for some founders at that point in time."