Portfolio Company Pusher Explains to Forbes Why it Skipped Venture Capital

In a recent article in Forbes, Max Williams, the CEO of Pusher Ltd, is interviewed about the pros and cons of raising venture capital from an entrepreneur’s perspective. For most of our portfolio companies, raising a VC round is a viable option, and in the full article here, the author and Max do a pretty good job discussing the merits.

Below are some excerpts from the article Back to the Bootstrap – Living Without Series A Funding:

The alternative to a Series A round is to carry on bootstrapping – developing the technologies, business model and customer base without recourse to a large injection of cash. But in the competitive technology market, is it really possible to scale up significantly without the help of VCs or deep-pocketed angels?

Software development company Pusher has done just that. Founded in 2010 by Max Williams and Damien Tanner, the company builds tools that enable developers to write less code and, consequently ship their apps more quickly. As things stand, the company has around 150,000 customers around the world. Users include British television network ITV, the Financial Times, MailChimp and bookmakers Ladbrokes.

“In 2012 we were at the stage when we needed more capital, “he recalls. “But we were very picky about investors.”

In 2016, it became apparent once again that capital was needed to fund growth, but this time round the preferred solution was debt finance, with $2.5m coming from SaaS capital. Debt, of course, means repayments on a regular basis. In this case, Pusher’s business model made it the right choice. “We get revenue on a subscriber model,” says Williams. “So our revenue is stable and we can feel comfortable making the repayments.” The new funding will enable Pusher to develop a “portfolio” of products. In the meantime, Williams says he is comfortable with the company as it has developed to date, particularly in terms of its independence.

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