BestCompany.Com - From Financing to Acquisition
ECL customer BestCompany financed their growth up until acquisition, with $1M of revenue-based finance. Learn how.
Context
BestCompany.Com is a dynamic business dedicated to empowering consumers to make informed purchasing decisions while enabling businesses to enhance their brand reputation, gain valuable competitive insights, and effectively convert prospects into customers.
Founded in 2011, BestCompany.Com emerged from a realization of a prevalent industry problem: the lack of trustworthiness in existing review platforms due to fake reviews and the practice of charging companies to maintain positive ratings. BestCompany.Com operates on two fronts: a steady-state service side focused on buying and selling leads, and a Software as a Service (SaaS) side, which they were actively developing.
Key takeaways
- In 2023, BestCompany.Com took $1M in financing from ECL
- This enabled them to finance growth until an acquisition
Challenges
In mid-2023, BestCompany.Com sought financing to fuel the growth of their SaaS segment, recognizing the potential for expansion and innovation in this area of their business.
Raising funds without equity dilution
BestCompany.Com, being 100% founder-owned, preferred to retain equity in their business. They had previously leveraged Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.
Selecting the right funding partner
In their evaluation process, BestCompany.Com considered three revenue-based funding providers, considering aspects like price and speed.
Solutions
The leadership team at BestCompany.Com learned about revenue-based financing through their investment banker, who highlighted its benefits as a viable funding option for their growth plans. BestCompany.Com ultimately received $1M of funding from Efficient Capital Labs.
Seamless application: Landon Taylor, CEO of BestCompany.Com described the financing process as having a seamless document submission, financial review, and prompt funding.
Flexibility for multiple funding tranches: BestCompany.Com ultimately received two financnigs from Efficient CapitalLabs. The team at BestCompany.Com found that the process for obtaining the second tranche of financing was equally efficient, reflecting the reliability and speed of Efficient Capital Labs' services.
Results
With Efficient Capital Labs' financing support, BestCompany.Com was poised for substantial growth.
- Acquisition On the road to realizing this potential, the company received an attractive acquisition offer, resulting in a successful acquisition that catapulted BestCompany.Com to new heights. ECL's Financing enabled the company to grow in the interim between financing and acquisition.
- Growth of SaaS segment The partnership between BestCompany.Com and Efficient Capital Labs exemplifies the impact of revenue-based financing in fueling SaaS growth. By providing timely and flexible capital, Efficient Capital Labs enabled BestCompany.Com to pursue its expansion into its new segment.
