Typical advance size against your annual recurring revenue
2-12% flat fees
Or repayment caps of 1.3-1.5x on classic revenue-share deals
24-48h
From application to first offers at data-driven platforms
Typical RBF advances run $25K to $10M+, repaid as 2-8% of monthly revenue, with funds landing days after you apply.
The honest founder's guide
What Is Revenue-Based Financing?
Revenue-based financing (RBF) is an advance against your future revenue. You repay either a fixed percentage of monthly revenue until a pre-agreed cap is hit, or the advance plus a flat fee on a fixed schedule. No equity, no board seats, no warrants, and personal guarantees are typically not required. It is a fast-growing corner of startup finance: Allied Market Research sized the market at $6.4B in 2023, projecting $178.3B by 2033, though estimates vary widely between research firms. What is consistent across surveys is demand: 68% of startups say they prefer non-dilutive capital, according to Global Growth Insights.
The part most guides skip: the 2021-era "pure RBF" wave consolidated hard. Pipe pivoted to embedded finance inside SMB software platforms, Uncapped dropped its RBF product entirely in favour of fixed-term loans, and Clearco recapitalized after a rough 2022-23 and now funds US companies only. Plenty of articles still recommend providers that no longer offer RBF; every provider named on this page was verified active as of 2026, with its current terms and geography.
RBF structures
The Two RBF Models, Plus Where They Live Now
Two repayment structures dominate the market today, and after the consolidation they live in three places: independent specialists, ecommerce funders, and capital embedded inside the platforms you already use.
Classic Revenue Share + Cap
The original model, run by Lighter Capital since 2010: you repay a fixed percentage of topline revenue every month until you hit a pre-agreed repayment cap. Slow months mean smaller payments; the total you owe never grows.
Repay 2-8% of gross revenue (3-12% of MRR for SaaS)
Repayment cap of 1.3x-1.5x over 1-3 years
12-36 month terms, no warrants, no personal guarantee
Best for SaaS with predictable MRR
Typical advanceUp to $4M per round
Flat-Fee Advance
Now the most common structure, used by Wayflyer and Outfund: an advance plus a flat fee of roughly 2-13%, repaid over a fixed 3-24 month schedule or as a share of sales. Total cost is fixed upfront, with no compounding interest.
Flat fees: Wayflyer 2-10%, Outfund from 2%
Short terms: Wayflyer 3-9 months, Outfund 3-12
Decisions in around 24 hours at Outfund
Best for ecommerce and DTC funding inventory and ads
Typical range$5K–$20M
Platform-Embedded Capital
Stripe Capital and Shopify Capital pre-approve advances from your own processing data and take repayment as a slice of daily sales. You cannot apply cold: offers are invitation-based, but funding arrives about the next business day.
Factor rates roughly 1.09-1.30
Repaid as 10-25% of daily sales
Invitation-only, near-instant funding
Best for merchants already on the platform
Typical range$200–$2M
SaaS ARR Advances
Capchase Grow and Founderpath advance capital against annual recurring revenue: typically 20-50% of ARR for first-time customers, more once you have a repayment track record. Built for B2B SaaS, including bootstrappers.
Up to 50% of ARR, roughly 3-4x MRR
Founderpath discount rates 7-13%, 12-36 months
Capchase: $100K+ ARR, terms of 3-24 months
Best for SaaS that wants to skip a bridge round
Typical range$25K–$10M
Not sure which RBF model fits your revenue profile?Register for free and we will match you with the funding routes and investors most relevant to your stage, sector, and geography. No obligation, no upfront fees.
RBF underwriting is data-driven, not pitch-driven. Your revenue is the collateral, so the bar is entirely about how predictable that revenue is.
Predictable recurring or steady revenue. SaaS and subscription businesses with dependable MRR, or ecommerce and DTC brands with steady sales, are the core customer. Providers fund growth spend: CAC, inventory, marketing.
Minimum monthly revenue, set per provider. Thresholds range from $10K/month (Wayflyer) and $15K-$20K+ MRR (Lighter Capital) up to $100K+/month (Clearco) or $500K trailing revenue (Founderpath). Expect $10K-$100K+ per month depending on where you apply.
6-12 months of revenue history. Algorithms need a track record: Wayflyer wants 6+ months in business, Capchase 12+ months of revenue. A strong single quarter is not enough.
3-6+ months of runway. Providers will not fund a company that needs the advance to survive. Capchase asks for 3+ months of runway, re:cap for 6+.
Healthy gross margins and a diversified customer base. Repayments come off the top of revenue, so thin margins get squeezed fast. Heavy customer concentration is a common decline reason at SaaS-focused providers.
Who RBF is not for. Pre-revenue startups (revenue is the collateral), low-gross-margin businesses, and companies with lumpy one-off project revenue. If that is you, start with startup grants or an equity round instead.
What it really costs
RBF Costs vs Venture Debt, Bank Loans & MCAs
A "10% fee" is not 10% APR. And do not confuse RBF with a merchant cash advance: RBF attaches to your total revenue with monthly or weekly remittance at roughly 15-40% effective APR, while an MCA debits fixed daily amounts against card sales at 40-150%+ APR, regardless of how that day went. One nuance: Stripe and Shopify Capital advances are legally MCA structures, with RBF-like daily-percentage remittance.
Dimension
Revenue-Based Financing
Venture debt
Bank loan
Merchant cash advance
Equity dilutionWho owns your company
✓None
~Warrants, 1-2%
✓None
✓None
Effective costAll-in, annualized
~~15-40% APR
~10-13.5% + warrants
✓Under 10%
~40-150%+ APR
RepaymentHow money leaves
✓% of revenue, flexes
Fixed amortization
Fixed monthly
Fixed daily debits
Speed to fundsApplication to cash
✓24h to 2 weeks
4-8+ weeks
Weeks to months
24-48h
RequirementsWhat underwrites it
✓Revenue history
Usually VC-backed
Profitability, collateral
Card volume
Personal guaranteeYour house on the line?
✓Typically no
Rare
Often
Often
A founder's guide
How to Get RBF in 4 Steps
No pitch deck, no roadshow, no term-sheet negotiation. RBF underwriting runs on your data, which is why the whole process fits inside a week at most platforms.
Day 1
Sign Up and Share Company Basics
Create an account and enter basic company information. Applications typically take 10 to 15 minutes: Wayflyer quotes 10-12 minutes end to end. Note the exceptions before you pick a provider: Stripe and Shopify Capital are invitation-only, so you cannot apply cold.
Day 1-2
Connect Your Data, Read-Only
Securely connect your bank accounts, accounting software, and billing platform (Stripe, Chargebee) through read-only APIs. Nothing is moved or changed; the provider is buying visibility into your revenue, not access to your money.
Day 2-3
Algorithmic Underwriting Produces Offers
The algorithm scores your MRR level and 6-12 month history, growth rate, churn, CAC payback, customer concentration, and gross margin, then returns offers, usually within 24-48 hours. Outfund quotes decisions in around 24 hours; Lighter Capital runs fuller diligence over 2-4 weeks for its larger, cap-based deals.
Day 3-5
Accept, Get Funded, Repay Automatically
Accept an offer and funds land in 1-3 business days. Automatic repayments begin immediately, taken as a percentage of revenue or on a fixed schedule, so model the cash-flow hit from month one, not from month six.
Verified active
RBF Providers Still Active in 2026
Informational references, not endorsements: check current terms directly with each provider. You will not find Pipe or Uncapped below, because neither offers founder-facing RBF anymore. Geography matters in this market, so it is noted for every name.
Category
SaaS & B2B Specialists
Classic revenue-share and ARR-advance providers built for software companies with recurring revenue.
Lighter CapitalUS, Canada, Australia. The original SaaS RBF lender, running since 2010, with a $130M credit facility. Up to $4M per round, caps of 1.3-1.5x, no warrants or personal guarantees. Needs $15K-$20K+ MRR and a diversified customer base.
FounderpathUS, built for bootstrapped B2B SaaS. Up to 50% of ARR at 7-13% discount rates over 12-36 months, plus term loans of $1-5M. Needs roughly $500K trailing 12-month revenue.
CapchaseUS, UK, Canada plus 8 EU markets. Capchase Grow advances $25K-$10M over 3-24 months. Needs $100K+ ARR and 12+ months of revenue history.
re:capGermany, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, UK. Evolved from pure RBF into flexible debt facilities of up to €5M at 12-18% interest. Needs €250K+ annual revenue and 6+ months runway.
Category
Ecommerce & DTC
Flat-fee advances sized to online sales, typically funding inventory and ad spend ahead of the revenue they generate.
WayflyerUS, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia plus 6 EU markets. One of the largest ecommerce funders: $5K-$20M at 2-10% flat fees over 3-9 months. Needs $10K+/month revenue and 6+ months in business.
ClearcoUS only after its 2023 recapitalization, and growing again. Invoice and receipt funding at 5-8% fees over 4-6 months; advances of roughly $25K-$600K. Needs $100K+/month revenue and 12+ months of it.
OutfundUK, US, Spain, Australia. One of the UK's largest RBF lenders: £25K–£10M at flat fees from 2%, terms of 3, 6, 9, or 12 months, decisions in around 24 hours. Needs about £25K monthly revenue.
Category
Platform-Embedded
Capital offered inside the payment and commerce platforms you already run on. Invitation-based: strong processing history triggers the offer.
Stripe CapitalUS, invitation-only. Pre-approved advances repaid as a percentage of daily Stripe sales, at factor rates of roughly 1.09-1.30. Needs 3+ months of processing history.
Shopify CapitalUS, Canada, UK, Australia, invitation-only. Advances of $200 to $2M at factor rates around 1.09-1.18, remitting 10-17% of daily sales, with funds about the next business day.
Category
European Players
A distinct European ecosystem grew as the US wave consolidated, with country specialists and cross-border marketplaces.
KarmenFrance. €30K–€5M over 1-24 months at 0.5-8% commission. Raised €9M in January 2025 to keep scaling.
LevenueActive across 16 European countries. A marketplace where investors buy discounted recurring revenue; 350+ SaaS companies funded to date.
ViceversaItaly plus 5 EU markets. Has funded 100+ digital businesses across ecommerce and subscription models.
Keep exploring
Related Debt Financing Guides
RBF tops out at a fraction of your ARR. If you are VC-backed and need a larger cheque, venture debt is the usual next step; and when only equity will carry the plan, you can browse 100,000+ angels and VCs in our investor database.
Venture Debt
Term loans with warrants for VC-backed startups: larger cheques than RBF at 10-13.5% interest, usually raised alongside or just after an equity round.
Expect flat fees of roughly 2-12% of the advance on short terms, or repayment caps of 1.3-1.5x over 1-3 years on classic revenue-share deals. In annualized terms, effective APR usually lands between roughly 15% and 40%, and the same headline fee gets more expensive the faster you repay: by our internal rate calculations, a 1.10x factor over 12 months is roughly 18% APR, but the same 1.10x repaid in 6 months is roughly 33% APR.
Not technically, in most structures. It is a purchase of future revenue: you receive an advance and owe a fixed total (the advance plus a fee or cap), rather than an interest-bearing loan where interest accrues over time. Your total cost is fixed upfront. Note that Stripe and Shopify Capital advances are legally merchant cash advance structures, even though they behave like RBF day to day.
No. There are no shares, no warrants, and no board seats. That is the sharpest contrast with venture debt, where warrants typically hand the lender 1-2% of the company, and with equity rounds, where 10-25% per round is normal.
Typically 20-50% of your ARR as a first-time customer, which works out to roughly 3-4x MRR, with higher percentages once you have repaid a first advance. Absolute ranges run from about $25K to $10M+ across mainstream providers, and Wayflyer funds up to $20M for large ecommerce businesses.
RBF is repaid as a percentage of your total revenue, so payments flex with your sales, and effective APR usually sits around 15-40%. A merchant cash advance debits fixed daily amounts against your card sales regardless of how that day went, typically costs 40-150%+ APR, and often carries a personal guarantee. Flat-fee, daily-remittance RBF products blur into MCA territory, so read the repayment mechanics before signing.
No. Revenue is the underwriting basis and the collateral, and most platforms require $10K-$100K+ in monthly revenue plus 6-12 months of history. If you are pre-revenue, look at startup grants, UK Startup Loans, or an angel round instead, then come back to RBF once the revenue engine is running.
Usually not. Major SaaS-focused providers like Lighter Capital explicitly lend without personal guarantees or warrants. That said, always check the specific contract: MCA-style products with daily remittance often do require one, and terms differ by provider and geography.
Debt Is One Path. Here Is the Full Picture.
Debt financing works best as part of a funding stack. The strongest startups combine non-dilutive capital (grants + debt) with equity investment from angels, VCs, and family offices.
AngelsPartners is the only platform where a founder can access all three capital pathways in one place: grants, debt information, and 100,000+ equity investor profiles with live reply-rate data.
Equity funding
100,000+ Equity Investors
The largest searchable database of angels, VCs, family offices, and corporate investors on one platform. Filter by sector, geography, ticket size, and stage. Direct contact details included - no gatekeepers, no pay-to-pitch.
Once you submit your profile, our AI scans grant programmes across the UK, US, and EU to find programmes that match your sector, stage, and geography. Zero dilution, no repayment obligations.
UK, US, and EU grant programmes covered
R&D tax credits, innovation loans, and challenge prizes
