Fintech founders often need to raise two different kinds of money: equity for growth and debt for their loan book. This is the tactical guide to navigating a complex, multi-stage fundraise.
15M by understanding a crucial fintech rule: you raise equity to fund the company, but you raise debt to fund the product (your loan book). This requires two different pitches, two different types of investors, and a deep understanding of how to sequence your fundraise to maximize leverage and minimize dilution.
Key takeaways
- Separate your fundraising story: one for VCs (growth, TAM) and one for lenders (risk, yield).
- Use equity for team, tech, and growth. Use debt to finance your loan book.
- Secure your equity round first to de-risk the company for debt providers.
- Build a track record for your loan performance, even on a small scale, before approaching lenders.
- Hire a finance lead who understands debt covenants and structures early.
- The "right" investor is one who understands your specific business model (e.g., fintech in emerging markets).
The Two-Track Fundraise: Equity for Growth, Debt for Product
For most startups, fundraising means trading equity for cash to grow your team and tech. But for a fintech lender, that’s only half the story. When your product is money, you have to fund the company and the product separately. This requires a sophisticated, two-track fundraising strategy that many founders get wrong.
Felipe Gómez Herrera, founder of the Latin American healthcare fintech Welli, successfully navigated this complexity, raising a combined
15 million in equity and debt. His journey is a tactical playbook for any founder building a capital-intensive business, especially in an emerging market.
The core lesson: You raise equity from VCs to fund your growth. You raise debt from lenders to fund your loan book. These are different investors, different pitches, and different processes. Mastering both is critical.
First, Build Your Founder "Toolkit"
Investors don't just bet on an idea; they bet on a founder's ability to execute. Before he could raise
15M, Felipe had to assemble a unique set of skills and experiences that made him credible to both venture capitalists and institutional lenders.
The McKinsey Framework: Structured Problem-Solving
Coming from a public policy background, Felipe joined McKinsey with little formal business training. Consulting forced him to learn how to break down massive, unstructured problems into logical, manageable parts. For a fintech founder, this is a non-negotiable skill.
You’ll use it to deconstruct everything: your total addressable market, your underwriting model, your go-to-market strategy, and your financial projections. Lenders, in particular, need to see this structured thinking in your risk models and performance dashboards. They are betting on your analytical rigor.
The HBS Mindset: Shifting from "Can I?" to "How Will I?"
Business school, particularly an institution like Harvard, provides more than just knowledge. It provides a powerful mindset shift. Surrounded by peers and faculty launching and funding disruptive companies, Felipe’s ambition recalibrated. The idea of starting something himself moved from a distant dream to a concrete plan.
For many technical or first-time founders, this "confidence gap" is the biggest barrier. You need to internalize that you are capable of building a large, venture-backed company. This conviction is what you will project in every investor meeting.
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