Ohio-based firm continues to close deals across the US while expanding into equity investing
CLEVELAND – The COVID-19 pandemic did little to stop the growth of Ohio-based River SaaS Capital. Now entering its seventh year, the venture financing firm spent the last two years adding new portfolio companies across the country, while launching new equity funding options that helped them double their pre-pandemic projections.
Notable additions to the firm’s portfolio include Seattle media safety and privacy SaaS Boltive, Georgia food safety company ComplianceMate, North Carolina software developer Cirrus Insight and a Salt Lake City B2B SaaS customer success management platform.
“The last two years have been extremely challenging for many businesses. However, many SaaS companies have actually experienced a surge in demand as their customers scramble to adapt and keep their operations productive and efficient,” said Chief Investment Officer Wendy Jarchow. “Many of these SaaS companies are now looking to consolidate their gains and scale quickly. Flexible funders like River SaaS Capital can be a great partner because we offer a combination of debt financing or equity investment depending on their needs and goals.”
“As our company continues to grow, our fundraising goals have centered on nondilutive capital from founder-friendly partners,” said Boltive CEO Dan Frechtling. “River SaaS Capital has been flexible and easy to work with while providing Boltive with the capital we need to scale quickly during a crucial time for our business.”
River SaaS Capital was founded in 2015 as a provider of non-dilutive debt-based financing to early-stage SaaS companies, with a focus on companies in the range of $1.5M in Annual Recurring Revenue. In early 2020, the firm also made its first equity-based investments, responding to requests from its portfolio for deeper and more flexible strategic partnerships.
“We make some solo-investments, but we prioritize partnerships with other co-investors wherever and whenever possible,” said Jarchow. “Our portfolio companies are located all across the country, so it often makes sense to link up with local investors in those geographies to maximize the value we are bringing to the company.”
Another benefit River SaaS Capital brings as an investor is its position within the TruWest family of Companies. This family-owned holding company also serves as the parent for several tech-adjacent firms including TRG and MRK Technologies.
“Clearly cash is important for growth in the SaaS space, but as an investor we always look for ways to offer value beyond the check,” said Jarchow. “Many of our portfolio companies end up engaged with one of our TruWest sister companies. In some cases, these companies have been able to help our borrowers expand their business development or smooth out logistics. In others, we have become clients because their particular service offering helps fill gaps in our businesses.”
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About River SaaS Capital
River SaaS Capital provides alternative venture financing to growing software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses in the U.S. River SaaS offers fast, flexible financing solutions, typically providing non-dilutive, revenue-based financing to qualified new borrowers in 36-48 month term loans and growing with its portfolio companies over time (via either debt and/or equity). For more information, check out our funding solutions and follow @riversaascap on Twitter.
