Our Startups Raised $120M in 2018: Beyond Dollars and Cents.

Since the start of the year, our startups raised $120M and some change.

• Forest (eF16), $3.5M Seed with Connect Ventures
• Front (eF14), $66M Series B with Sequoia and DFJ
• Spendesk (eF16), $10M Series A with Index Ventures
• Slite (eF17), $4.4M Seed with Index Ventures
• Station (eF17), $3.25M Seed with Accel
• Aircall (eF14), $29M Series B with Draper Esprit

It’s a significant amount. Prior to that, our startups had received $55M in total funding. That figure has more than trebled in the last 6 months. But for us, the important metrics are elsewhere…

Beyond Vanity Metrics

Don’t get us wrong: fundraisings are an important milestone and worthy of celebration. They’re fuel — for our startups to grow their teams, their business, and their ambitions. But they aren’t an end in and of themselves.

To us, the figures that matter most tell a somewhat different story. They show companies that have reached Product-Market fit, companies that build services used and trusted by millions every day, companies that are contributing to bringing the future of work to life.

• 14: the total amount of companies created by eFounders since we started out in 2011. And more than half of these were built in the last 2 years…
• 500: the number of people employed in our companies.
• $50M: the total ARR reached by our companies as of Q1 2018.

These figures go a long way to explaining how our startups have collectively brought in $120M in fresh funding this year. And these figures are what make us most proud of the teams that started out here over the years.

The Long Road Ahead

The beginning of the year has confirmed a lot of what we thought. First, that the relationships we’ve built with VCs over the years are strong and founded on mutual trust. Second, that our startups are driven by talented teams and outstanding founders. And third, that our model brings results in the long run, and in a big way.

But this exciting beginning to 2018 is just the start. We’ve got a lot more in the works.

We’re imagining new ways of financing startups. We have acquired a wealth of experience collaborating with VCs on SaaS startups. And, while for some SaaS companies the VC method is ideal, it isn’t always the case. For some businesses, we believe that more progressive — and less dilutive — funding methods can be beneficial, and we will explore this possibility in the future.

We’re outlining new models of entrepreneurship. At eFounders, this has been true since Day-1: we pioneered the studio model and helped bring it to where it is today — a well-known term and highly-regarded model. We are committed to pioneering new models of entrepreneurship: as with our recently launched eFounders Start track for entrepreneurs to join us and work on kickstarting their ideas.

We’re building the future of work. Software doesn’t stop at features. It requires rethinking the very ways in which teams organize their work. And our vision for the future of work is growing deeper as we encounter new problems in SMBs, as we meet new founders, and as we become acquainted with new technology. We have new, exciting projects that will soon be launching… stay tuned!

Advice to Founders

In a nutshell: fundraisings aren’t that big a deal. Sure, they’re a whole lot of work for you. They’re great indicators (over time) of the strength of your business. And they’re tremendous motivators for your team. But they aren’t the goal.

Stay focused on what matters most: your business, your team, your vision. The rest will follow. So, congrats to our founders for raising. But more importantly: congrats to them for achieving strong results, building great teams, and pursuing wild ambitions.

When we started, our objective was clear: to build strong companies that would become worldwide leaders on their market. Seven years later, it’s happening. And that makes us truly proud.

Wanna help us build the future of work? Apply to join the next big thing!