Skalar launches to finance customer acquisition without equity, using revenue-linked repayment

Skalar, a New York fintech, launched Thursday with a model designed to fund sales and marketing without taking equity or requiring startups to repay on a fixed calendar schedule. The company says it will finance the gap between customer acquisition spend and the revenue those customers generate.

Revenue-linked repayment for growth spending

Skalar provides startups capital to run sales and marketing initiatives. Startups repay from the revenue produced by the customers acquired with that funding.

Skalar’s current deals generally target repayment of about 1.1x the amount provided. If customers generate less revenue than expected, Skalar says it absorbs the shortfall rather than requiring full repayment.

Repayment is not tied to a specific due date. Instead, it accelerates or slows based on customer revenue timing. Skalar also says its agreements do not include the right to seize assets on default and do not require borrowers to maintain specific financial benchmarks or cash balances.

How it differs from venture debt and revenue-based financing

Skalar’s founders position the structure as distinct from both venture debt and traditional revenue-based financing.

Venture debt typically avoids equity dilution but can come with higher interest and pressure to protect cash, which the founders say can force startups to cut sales and marketing or hold back on new opportunities. Revenue-based financing, they add, usually advances money based on signed contracts or revenue already being generated.

Skalar, by contrast, finances customer acquisition before that revenue exists, and it takes on some of the risk that revenue may not fully materialize. The company evaluates detailed transaction data to estimate customer acquisition costs, customer retention duration, and revenue over time. It also updates assessments as new information arrives.

Deal structure, selectivity, and startup risk

Skalar sets minimum revenue targets for companies it finances. If results fall below targets, it can require faster repayment. It can also stop providing additional capital in certain circumstances, which could disrupt funding plans.

Terms are based on estimates involving customer revenue, profit margins, currency fluctuations, and which sales can be attributed to a particular marketing investment. If those assumptions do not hold, startups may receive less benefit than expected.

Skalar targets technology companies spending between $100,000 and $3 million per month to acquire customers and that have a consistent record of earning more from those customers than they spend to acquire them. It also considers whether a company has enough cash to remain in business long enough for customer revenue to arrive. Skalar initially plans to work with no more than 15 companies per year.

Funding, partners, and early portfolio

Skalar declined to disclose the size of its seed round, which closed during the first quarter and was led by São Paulo-based venture firm Monashees. The company also has a debt financing partnership with General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund, though the partnership size was not disclosed.

Since launching in January, Skalar says it has committed to finance more than $125 million in sales and marketing spending across seven technology companies over the next 12 months. The first seven customers include four or five Latin American companies plus businesses in the United States.

Skalar’s founders say the General Catalyst connection began through Sebastián Cárdenas’ work as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Monashees, where he helped introduce portfolio companies to the Customer Value Fund model. The Customer Value Fund partner Andrew Ziperski said the goal was to close the capital gap for smaller companies in Latin America.

Why this matters

Skalar’s approach ties repayment to customer revenue timing and shifts downside risk away from startups, aiming to make growth financing more available for customer acquisition spend. For companies that can demonstrate predictable customer economics but face limited access to traditional capital, the structure offers an alternative to equity and conventional debt.