In the world of startups, the search for business funding is often fraught with challenges, especially for founders like myself, who bootstrap their ventures to retain control. When I first heard about AshGrove Capital, a financial entity offering growth funding without taking equity, it caught my attention. This approach intrigued me, as it resonated with my belief in building businesses organically while maintaining ownership.
AshGrove Capital, based in London and founded in 2019, focuses on providing non-dilutive credit solutions to small and medium-sized B2B software and services companies in Europe. For founders who wish to grow without ceding equity, this funding model offers a unique lifeline. Let me unpack what makes AshGrove stand out and how it can help entrepreneurs, particularly women in business, navigate the financial landscape with greater confidence.
The Funding Model That Respects Ownership
AshGrove Capital’s business model is refreshingly straightforward. They provide loans ranging from €10 million to €50 million, repayable over four to seven years, tailored to a company’s growth needs and strategy. Whether you need to invest in research and development, increase your marketing efforts, or fund an acquisition, AshGrove offers flexibility without asking for a stake in your company.
For founders, this approach means having the resources to scale without the burnout of seeking multiple funding rounds or worrying about future dilution. It protects your vision and goals while fueling growth.
If, like me, you’ve ever hesitated to seek external funding fearing loss of control, you can learn more about AshGrove's model on their dedicated founder page. It’s a different way forward, particularly suitable for those who want to be in the driver’s seat of their business.
Key Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs
Let’s face it: As women entrepreneurs, we face barriers like limited access to funding and mentorship. While initiatives like the F/MS Startup Game can help address some skill gaps, raising funds without relinquishing power has often felt impossible. AshGrove Capital offers insights that can be game-changing for businesswomen:
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Never Undervalue Your Vision
Female entrepreneurs often face an uphill battle proving the worth of their business ideas. Non-dilutive funding like AshGrove’s ensures you can grow without surrendering equity, which can be empowering. Your vision stays yours. -
Align Your Funding Strategy with Your Goals
Consider how funding aligns with what you’re trying to build. If you’re after high growth but unwilling to give away ownership or control, alternative funding solutions might be your answer. -
Understand and Prepare Your Metrics
Financial clarity, annual recurring revenue (ARR), market potential, and growth trajectory, is essential to secure funding. AshGrove typically works with companies that have a minimum €5 million ARR, so understanding your performance is a must.
Common Funding Pitfalls to Avoid
While we’re on the topic, let me share some common hurdles I’ve either encountered or witnessed among fellow entrepreneurs:
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Focusing Solely on Venture Capital
Diversifying your funding sources can keep you flexible while minimizing compromises. Private credit funds like AshGrove are often overlooked. -
Underestimating the Pitch
Tailoring your pitch to match the funding model is crucial. A pitch for venture capital won’t always translate for a private credit fund looking for clear repayment strategies. -
Lack of Financial Discipline
Funding may offer opportunities for growth, but spending without a clear return strategy can jeopardize progress. Tools like financial KPI dashboards can help you track progress.
Inspiring Stories
AshGrove Capital’s impact is already creating waves. For example, Dublin-based Xtremepush, a growing CRM company, secured €12 million in financing from AshGrove. This helped them scale and fast-track acquisitions without losing equity or managerial control. The CEO, Tommy Kearns, emphasized how the funding aligns with their vision, an inspiring reminder of how keeping ownership can fuel confidence for ambitious plans. You can find more about this success story through this positive case study.
How to Approach Non-Dilutive Funds
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Do Your Homework
Research your potential funding partner thoroughly. This isn’t just about getting cash, it’s about finding a strategic ally. AshGrove’s About Page details their focus on building long-term relationships with founders. -
Understand Your Metrics
Be clear about your ARR, customer acquisition cost, and expansion goals. These are critical when pitching. -
Prepare For Collaboration
AshGrove doesn’t just provide cash, they also offer guidance. They excel in helping businesses optimize go-to-market strategies, financial reporting, and customer retention plans.
Why Female Entrepreneurs Should Care
Historically, female founders have received less than 3% of VC funds. This statistic is disheartening but not insurmountable. As women, we often face societal pressure to take a backseat in male-dominated spaces like tech and finance. Non-dilutive funds like AshGrove open doors that traditional VC pathways may close for us. This is financial inclusion that works for us, not just talks about us.
When I built Fe/male Switch, I took the hard road of bootstrapping because I didn’t want to dilute my shareholder equity early on. Looking back, a solution like AshGrove might have made scaling smoother without demanding compromises on vision.
Wrapping Up
Whether you’re in SaaS or tech-enabled services or dreaming of worldwide expansion, AshGrove Capital could be the growth partner for you. They’re championing the idea that ownership matters, showing us that founders don’t have to sacrifice control for success.
As you take your next steps, consider your funding carefully. Define your goals, avoid common pitfalls, and be strategic about who you choose as a partner. AshGrove is a shining example of how thoughtful financial structuring can align with feminist entrepreneurship, giving founders like us the confidence to scale. Explore AshGrove Capital’s website and see if their values align with yours. Investing in yourself and your vision? That’s a win.
FAQ
1. What is AshGrove Capital and what makes it unique?
AshGrove Capital is a London-based private credit fund providing non-dilutive financing solutions to small and medium-sized B2B software and services businesses in Europe. Unlike traditional venture capital, it does not take equity, allowing founders to retain full ownership of their companies. Explore AshGrove Capital Details
2. Who founded AshGrove Capital and when?
AshGrove Capital was founded in 2019 by Jonathon Ferguson, Phil Fretwell, and Ilkka Rantanen. They established the fund to address the gap in mid-sized growth funding in the European market.
3. What types of businesses does AshGrove Capital focus on?
The fund primarily serves small and medium-sized B2B software and services businesses in Europe, with a minimum annual recurring revenue (ARR) of €5 million. Learn more about AshGrove’s Business Focus
4. What is the range of funding that AshGrove Capital provides?
AshGrove provides tailored non-dilutive funding ranging from €10 million to €50 million, typically repayable over four to seven years. See More on AshGrove’s Financing Solutions
5. How does AshGrove Capital support female entrepreneurs?
By offering non-dilutive funding, AshGrove provides an avenue for women entrepreneurs to access growth capital without surrendering equity, enabling them to maintain control and build their businesses on their own terms.
6. What are some common pitfalls entrepreneurs should avoid when seeking funding?
Entrepreneurs often focus solely on venture capital, underestimate the importance of tailored pitches, or neglect financial discipline. Diversifying funding sources and preparing robust financial metrics can help avoid these pitfalls.
7. Can you share an example of a company that benefited from AshGrove Capital?
Xtremepush, a Dublin-based CRM company, secured €12 million in financing from AshGrove Capital. This funding allowed the company to scale and pursue acquisitions without relinquishing any equity. Read about Xtremepush’s Success Story
8. Does AshGrove Capital only provide funding, or does it offer additional support?
Beyond funding, AshGrove Capital provides strategic advice, helps optimize go-to-market strategies, and guides companies on financial reporting and customer retention. Discover More About AshGrove’s Expertise
9. What principles drive AshGrove Capital’s funding model?
AshGrove is guided by a philosophy that prioritizes founder ownership, diversity, and inclusion. They focus on building long-term relationships with teams and aligning their financing solutions with a business’s unique objectives.
10. How does AshGrove Capital address diversity and inclusion?
AshGrove fosters a diverse talent pool and invests in businesses with strong governance and diverse leadership teams, believing these qualities contribute to better decision-making and innovation. Learn about AshGrove’s Commitment to Inclusion
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
