Full Transcript

Jason Kirby: All right, welcome back to the show everyone. I’m your host, Jason Kirby of Fundraising Demystified. Today we have Kaustav Das, CEO and founder of Efficient Capital Labs. Welcome to the show.

Kaustav Das: Thank you, Jason. Thank you for having me. Excited to be a part of this podcast.

Jason Kirby: I’m excited to have you on and share your story. Give a quick background on you—how your risk management experience led you to build this company and where you are today.

Kaustav Das: My name is Kaustav. I’m the CEO and one of the co‑founders of Efficient Capital Labs. We’re a revenue‑based financing company specializing in helping SaaS companies scale, with a focus on the US and South/Southeast Asia corridor—our USP. I’ve been in risk management for 21 years. I started at American Express across commercial risk—small business, merchant, and pure commercial. After the 2008–09 crisis, I helped start Amex’s fintech division as chief credit officer for non‑card lending—merchant financing, then working capital and supply‑chain financing.

Kaustav Das: I then became Chief Risk Officer at Kabbage (later acquired by Amex after I’d left), for three years—a premier SoftBank‑backed fintech lender/platform. After that, I held multiple CRO roles, and in 2021 I was global CRO at a BNPL company. Post‑2021 I jumped into building revenue‑based financing with Efficient Capital Labs—bitten by the entrepreneurship bug, as my wife says.

Kaustav Das: I’d worked for, and still advise, many fintech founders. I wanted to build something that played to my strengths and solved a real business problem. ECL focuses on cross‑border SaaS companies and on making capital border‑agnostic. In South/Southeast Asia, the cost of capital—equity or debt—is much higher than in developed markets; we’re bridging that gap.

Jason Kirby: How long have you been running the business? How much capital have you raised to date—both equity and your debt facility?

Kaustav Das: We’ve raised about $10.5M of equity across seed and pre‑Series A, backed by great VCs—QED and 645 Ventures—and others like Everywhere Ventures, Riverside Ventures, and SinCapital. We also raised a $100M debt facility with CIM.

Kaustav Das: Quick primer on equity vs. debt: Equity is flexible—you can use it for anything (lending, hiring, laptops, GTM). A debt facility can only be used for lending. And debt comes with covenants—what you can or cannot do. We raised a $100M warehouse facility with CIM for lending; you must adhere to covenants over the life of the facility.

Jason Kirby: For founders new to revenue‑based financing, can you explain how RBF works and how deals are underwritten?

Kaustav Das: In SaaS RBF, we front‑load a portion of contracted revenue. Example: You’re an HR tech platform; Citibank pays $20k/month ($240k/year). We might advance $120k up front so you can build features, expand GTM, or enter new markets. You then repay over time from that contract’s cash flows.

Jason Kirby: How does that hit the balance sheet—is it collateralized debt, accounts payable, something else?

Kaustav Das: Most RBF isn’t collateralized in the traditional sense—no CDs or letters of credit. Some providers file a lien (which is legally collateral). Many don’t. On the balance sheet, it’s typically a liability. If the term is under 12 months, it’s a current liability; multi‑year structures split into current and long‑term liabilities.

Jason Kirby: Repayment terms vary. How do you price and determine when an advance is paid off?

Kaustav Das: Three common structures: (1) % of revenue (like merchant cash advance). Pro: payment flexes down in weaker months. Con: if you’re growing, you repay much faster than modeled, raising your effective APR. (2) Fixed fee with fixed amortization (what we do): predictable principal + fee each month—no surprises; better for growing companies. (3) Interest‑only + balloon: lower payments initially but big refi risk at maturity.

Jason Kirby: Fundraising strategy—how did you get in front of the right investors, and what stage/product readiness did you have?

Kaustav Das: I started in Nov 2021 when capital was flowing. Early advice said my background + idea would make a $5M raise easy. I spoke to five top VCs (including QED). Two months later, all five were no’s. My mistake: net too narrow—and we had no product yet. I broadened to fintech specialists, New York funds, true pre‑seed/seed firms. I connected with 645 Ventures and raised our seed, built the team/product, and addressed the classic lender’s chicken‑and‑egg: equity asks for debt lined up; debt asks for equity.

Kaustav Das: My prior relationships helped: I got directional debt term sheets even pre‑equity, which boosted equity confidence. Another path (we didn’t use): lend a little from equity first, then raise a facility once you have a book. We closed a $15M promissory‑note facility with CIM in Nov, then kept “joining the dots” with VCs while we weren’t actively raising. QED led our pre‑Series A in Dec; with more equity, we upsized to a $100M warehouse in July. Debt helps equity, which helps debt—it compounds.

Jason Kirby: It’s a competitive space. Beyond the South/Southeast Asia angle, how do you differentiate—proprietary underwriting, tech?

Kaustav Das: We’re the only RBF provider (to our knowledge) that is truly cross‑border in both customers and risk. We built infrastructure to assess and manage risk across multiple markets—not just underwriting in one country.

Jason Kirby: What do you look for in prospective customers—any hard criteria?

Kaustav Das: We’re flexible. No single metric auto‑approves or auto‑declines. We review banking data (revenue, predictability), accounting data (existing debt capacity), contract concentration (customer reliance), VC‑backing, and operating history. Bootstrapped is fine—about 20% of our customers are. Big picture: we avoid being the lender of last resort (e.g., one month runway).

Kaustav Das: Remember: there are three types of capital—venture equity (multiple of revenue), venture debt, and alternative capital (RBF, working capital, factoring, etc.). Alternative capital is typically a fraction of ARR, not a multiple. Our role is often the “last mile” to hit a milestone before a bigger raise.

Jason Kirby: Debt facilities—how are they usually structured?

Kaustav Das: There’s a base rate (now commonly SOFR 1‑ or 3‑month) plus a spread. Fixed‑rate facilities are rare today. To secure a facility, you need (1) a product with understood risk/tenor, (2) credible, experienced risk leadership, and (3) evidence that your policies/processes match what you claim (no cutting corners). Work with a fractional CFO/capital‑markets pro—terms last years and nuances matter (advance rates, eligibility, covenants).

Jason Kirby: How do you mitigate downside risk without collateral?

Kaustav Das: Underwriting quality is the moat. Operationally, we prefer pulls from a customer bank account (vs. waiting for pushes), strong early‑warning indicators, and, in some cases, a lockbox structure (collections flow into a controlled account; our take is remitted first). Lockboxes add friction, so we use them selectively.

Jason Kirby: Founders also see instant offers from Stripe/Shopify/Amex. Any cautions?

Kaustav Das: Always ask for the effective APR. An offer like “six‑month payback at 25–30% of revenue” can translate into 24%+ APR, sometimes higher. It’s easy to underestimate cost when the structure isn’t a simple stated interest rate.

Jason Kirby: Interest rates and covenants have changed a lot. I’m seeing venture debt at 18–30% once penalties and default mechanics kick in.

Kaustav Das: Venture debt commonly starts mid‑teens and goes up. Headline rate isn’t the whole picture: closing fees, warrants, minimum draws, unused fees—you have to add it all up. Some covenants can be structured so defaults are almost inevitable; read carefully.

Jason Kirby: What’s the best way for founders to learn more about you and Efficient Capital Labs?

Kaustav Das: Our site—ecapplabs.com—is self‑explanatory. I love talking to founders and still advise multiple fintechs globally. If you want to learn more about RBF or ECL, visit the site and reach out—happy to help.

Jason Kirby: Appreciate you being on the show and sharing your insights—super informative and actionable.

Kaustav Das: Thank you for the opportunity and platform.

Jason Kirby: Thanks for joining us!